Hurricane
by BellaSalvatore1918
Summary: Prequel to Shiver. Madeline Gilbert is practically the face of purity in the town of Mystic Falls. When Damon Salvatore slowly infiltrates her life, she begins to see a change she never thought would happen to herself. But things are bound to get terribly messy when the hot bad boy turns out to really be a ruthless vampire murderer in love with her sister's doppelgänger. Damon/OC
1. Pilot

**As promised, guys! The "prequel", in a sense, to _Shiver. _This begins from 1x01 and will continue until the Season 4 finale so long as everyone is still interested in it. Don't worry, this won't be taking from the time I write _Shiver, _but that means that everyone's got to be patient with this story. It's a second priority against the real thing. But I think this should be fun :) **

**This Pilot is...different from the actual show because I didn't want to go through the whole bonfire scene and unnecessary school scenes. Plus, Madeline copes in a different way than Elena and Jeremy, and it wouldn't make sense for her to go drinking so soon after her parents' deaths. First episode is always so boring so...apologies in advance. **

**Shiver is up next so stay tuned! Enjoy the chapter and make sure to review if you can when you're done reading!**

**Disclaimer: Only saying this once. I don't own anything of TVD's. I only own Madeline Gilbert, Audrey Forbes, any other OCs I decide to bring in, the storyline that comes from my own brain, and the writing.**

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**Pilot**

Tired…

Just so…so…_tired. _

You would think—looking like I did—that I would be the most _active _person on the entire planet. After all, I had the body for it. The small, thin figure; one that was only obtained by going on a diet that consists of nothing at dinner but a small little leaf of lettuce that was meant for rabbits.

Wrong.

I was the most inactive person anyone had ever known. Did my body look like I worked out twice a day for four hours? Sure. You know, why not? But, no. Truly, I hadn't _ever _been one to do any sort of activity—whether it was physical education at school, going for a light walk with the dog (that is, if we'd had one), and _definitely _not running. Running? In fact, if anyone were to ask me to go for a leisure jog with them at five in the morning six months ago, I would've laughed in their face and gone home to watch a movie or something.

I guess my hatred of physical activity was what had my mother suddenly decide to pull me out of bed every morning on Saturdays at five o'clock and go for a morning jog. Then, at night, I would go with her again. I wished, at the time, I had actually appreciated it. But life doesn't happen that way. Once something's gone forever, you tend to cherish those moments, and you wish that you had the chance to do them over again. This could happen with good or bad things—it just depended on your situation.

Mine, however, was on the bad side of things.

Every morning since the car accident that placed my parents at the bottom of Wickery Bridge, I had learned to appreciate the moments that I could have no more of.

I passed many older women on this lonesome jog—women just a little older than my mother was before she died three months ago. The only survivor of the crash was my sister, Elena. I _still _couldn't wrap my head around how she was able to get out of the car, but yet, I saw her every morning for these three painful months without our parents. I still had this _feeling _like they were going to walk through the door at any moment.

But that's just how life works.

Because life sucks.

I slowed my pace as I came up to the fence that surrounded our humble, suburban house that Jeremy, Elena, and I had all grown up in and was now home to our Aunt Jenna, who had bravely given up her care-free lifestyle to take care of us three. You would think, me being the oldest, that I would be old enough to take care of everyone. The sad truth of it was that I was still seventeen at the moment—and though that would change in roughly a month, I was not in the right place to take care of my two siblings. According to the legal law, when I turned eighteen, I _could _become Jeremy and Elena's sole guardian, but the truth of the matter was…I was still _only _a rising eleventh grader_. _

How is a seventeen/eighteen-year-old girl only an eleventh grader? No, I wasn't held back or anything. To be honest, I was probably smarter than the majority of my grade.

But, like I said before, life _sucks. _

When I was born, I had _just _missed the cutoff for school, which meant that I had to be held back a year before I went. Elena was conceived and born _very _quickly, and she was able to go to school on time. So, when Elena was ready to hit kindergarten, I was, too. I would be nineteen in senior year; she would be eighteen. Jeremy, however, would still be the little munchkin, as always.

I know. I'm old.

Although it worked for me, you know? I absorbed more information…I was more appreciative of the things I had…I was a good littlegirl. Did that still work—"little" girl? Probably not. Regardless, the statement is all the same. I was the good girl in our family. Not that Elena wasn't, either, but the thing was, she was _that _girl. The popular one. The beautiful one. The compassionate one. The considerate one. The gracious one.

There were just so many adjectives to describe my sister.

With heavy breathing—to my distaste, actually—I pushed open the door to our house and entered, never minding with the headphones that still resided inside of my ears. God, I hated running…but it was the only thing that helped me clear my head. Every time I shut my eyes and _thought, _I would just think of how miserable I was.

I didn't want that. I didn't want to be miserable. But how does one really get over the death of their parents?

Elena had her ways of coping, Jeremy had his, and I…_guess _this was mine? Running? Elena's coping technique was, obviously, either trying to move on or writing in that diary that our mother gave her for her birthday. Jeremy…Jeremy was having some issues with his coping techniques. Don't get me wrong, he had them, but…well, they weren't all that brilliant. I wanted to do something about it, but for right now, all I could do was try and wait until this phase was over.

So I guess mine had to be running.

The thing was, it was _hard _for me. Of course, I would never say it was harder for me than it was for Jeremy and Elena. This affected us all—even Aunt Jenna, who had lost her sister.

But I was the one that spent the nights with our parents, unlike Elena and Jeremy who would always go out with their friends to some party. I would be the one that would stay in for Family Night. I would be the one who would sit down and play Monopoly or watch some cheesy movie. Not because I felt obligated to, but because I wanted to. I had always felt closer to my parents than Elena or Jeremy…for some _unknown _reason, honestly.

So, my methods of coping _sucked, _but they would have to suffice.

I ripped off my arm sleeve that harbored my phone, but I kept the headphones in as I began to take off my sweaty sneakers and socks. I desperately needed a shower. You know, this was another reason I hated running.

My body ached since I'd been running so much lately, and with slow joints, I carefully removed my sneakers and relaxed for just a moment before painfully making my way up to my bedroom, which was tucked into a nice little corner at the front end of the house. Elena's room was adjacent to mine, on the other side of the stairwell, of course. Jeremy's room connected with Elena's, and our parents' room—well, Jenna's room now—sort of hid mine.

There was one advantage and one advantage only when it came to being the eldest: I had my own bathroom while Elena and Jeremy had to share theirs. So, without wasting anymore of my already limited time, I stripped out of my disgusting clothes and stepped into the shower like there were ants crawling all over me. Which, in a sense, was a totally legitimate claim…if beads of sweat that made you feel disgusting were a code word for ants.

Everyone was up and about by the time I hopped out of the shower…and that was probably not a good thing. See, I take long showers—especially after feeling like I had drowned in a self-generated, more disgusting one. This meant that I had to have been in the shower for at least twenty minutes. So, as everyone was just groggily getting up, they had less than a half hour to get going.

I sighed to myself as I drained my hair in the shower. I wish I could be that way again—worriless. I was afraid that I would never be that way again.

"Toast," Aunt Jenna suggested as she desperately searched the fridge for something she could make so she wouldn't feel so unprepared. She looked back at Elena, who was pouring two cups of coffee while I made sure I had everything I needed for the school day. "I could make toast," she offered.

"It's _all _about the coffee, Aunt Jenna," Elena moaned as she began to pour my cup. With a sigh, I turned around at her just as she extended the cup to me, and I took it graciously.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy questioned as he entered the kitchen, his eyes fixated on the caffeine. Elena poured her cup next as I sipped on mine and watched as Jenna fretted around the kitchen.

"It's your first day of school and I'm _totally _unprepared…" she said, dragging out the last word. Beside me, Jeremy stole the cup of coffee Elena had poured for herself, and she just gave up before grabbing another mug. All of a sudden, Aunt Jenna walked forward and held out money for us all to take. "Lunch money? " she offered.

"I'm okay," Elena said while I shook my head. Jeremy was the only one who grabbed the money—all of it, in fact, and Jenna walked over to her bag with a sigh.

"Anything else? A number two pencil?" she joked, looking over at us. "What am I missing?"

"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Elena asked, which earned yet _another _sigh from our relative.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at…" Jenna trailed off, looking down at her watch before giving up. "Now." She quickly untied her hair from its messy bun. "Crap."

"Go," I said, walking over to her. "We're good here."

Jenna gave me a relieved look before rushing out of the house faster than I was able to brink. Beside me, Elena turned to Jeremy with a sigh of her own. "You okay?" she asked our brother.

_Oh, no, _I thought to myself. _She poked the bear. _

Jeremy, uninterested in Elena's pity pathway, just scoffed at her—quite rudely, might I add. "Don't start," he warned as he walked off to go to school, sipping his drink whilst leaving the kitchen. I bit down on my lip and watched as a frustrated Elena looked over towards him, wondering what she did wrong, and then she looked at me for answers.

"Hey," I said, holding up my hands in defense. "Don't look at me. I have nothing to do with his bad attitude." I walked over to the kitchen counter where she was standing, and Elena sighed as he pulled her coffee to her own lips.

"I think we _both _know what has to do with his bad attitude."

"Maybe it's just a phase, Elena."

"Or, maybe he's throwing his life away," Elena countered pointedly. I sighed. "We can't just sit around here and watch as he does, Madeline. We're responsible for him now."

My heart darkened as I set the cup of coffee I had in my hand down and thought about her words. When I looked up at her, I saw her waiting for my response, and I knew I couldn't evade this one. "We'll…" I trailed off, desperate. "We'll figure something out, Elena. Promise. Just give him time."

Elena was silent for a moment. "People are going to stop giving us breaks, Madeline," she warned me, peering up to see my reaction. I, however, had been ready for this moment ever since I'd gotten the will to step outside of the threshold of my room.

"Then they'll stop giving us breaks," I countered simply, shrugging. "It's not anybody else's problem. It's ours. And we'll deal with it," I promised her, nodding. "But just because the world is ready to move on doesn't mean that we're inclined to, Elena. It's hard for him."

Elena blinked at me. "Are you saying it's not hard for _me_?"

"I'm _saying _that I will handle Jeremy when I need to," I told her softly, trying not to explode at my persistent sister. "So let me _do _that, Elena. Okay?"

Elena stared at me for a long time—and I could tell that she was weighing the pros and cons in the back of her brain. But, though I was small and not that strong, when I got angry, I could _blow up _at people. I don't think she was going to leave that to chance. "Okay," she said, nodding. "Okay."

It was a little while later when Bonnie picked the two of us up from the house. Bonnie Bennett was our childhood friend—not as old of a friend as Caroline Forbes, but was still qualified to be a childhood friend. Truth be told, I'd always felt more close to Audrey Forbes, Caroline's younger sister, who was probably hitching a ride with Caroline. Audrey was a year younger than us all, and though she had friends of her own grade, we included her often. It was odd, actually, that Audrey was Caroline's sister. The sophomore had bright red hair in opposition to Caroline's beach-blonde look, but their facial features was the real giveaway.

But of the four of us—Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, and I—Caroline and I were definitely closer. Though Bonnie and I still had our defining moments. Bonnie and I shared a teddy bear—Harvey—ever since we were seven years old. The two of us spotted it in a window, but there was only one in stock at the quaint little shop that it was located in. So, we did what any desperate children would do. We bought the cute little bear and decided that every first of the year, we would switch. To this day, we kept switching the bear every New Year's Day.

It was my year to have his legendary bear. The bear rested on my window seat, tucked neatly into the thin curtains that draped over it. Honestly, it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I mean, it had a tiny little button for a nose…a painted-on smile that looked absolutely genuine…even on the saddest of days, that bear perked my mood up.

Well, probably not the _saddest _days. I guess that was a bad example.

"So," Bonnie began as she drove, peering at Elena, who was in the front seat. I, on the other hand, had been condemned to the back. Though I didn't really mind. It was refreshing to watch the outside world whip past as we drove by. "Grams is telling me I'm _psychic_." At this, I moved my head over to listen. "Our ancestors were from Salem—witches and all that. I know," Bonnie protested, seeing Elena's condescending glance, "_Crazy! _But she's going _on _and on about it and I'm like, put this woman in a home already!" she laughed.

I gasped exaggeratedly. "Hey, maybe we should start like a psychic business thing! You know, give people palm readings in the town square or something?"

Bonnie laughed. "Oh my God! That would be a _brilliant _idea."

"You think you can make up some good predictions?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

To my surprise, Bonnie hesitated. "Well, you know…I _did _predict Obama. _And _I predicted Heath Ledger. And I _still _think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands!" she tried with a light tone.

I frowned. "That's not predictions, Bonnie, that's called using your head. Right, Elena?" Both Bonnie and I turned to hear Elena's side of this discussion, but my sister was zoned out completely, staring at the cemetery out the window. I sighed. For a girl who said she wanted to move on, she was doing nothing but wallowing in her own self-pity. At least I could slap a smile on my face and _pretend _like everything was okay. After all, that was my nature. Mom always said that I could be dying of cancer and no one would notice it until I was lying in the casket. "Hey," I said, tapping her shoulder. Elena jumped, but turned back to look at me. "You…good?" I tried, wanting to use something other than "okay" for the end of my question.

"Back in the car," Bonnie laughed, giving Elena a warm smile.

Elena sighed heavily. "I did it again, didn't I? I-I'm sorry, guys." She looked at Bonnie. "You were saying that…"

"That…I'm psychic now," Bonnie said with her head held high and a mischievous smile on her face."

"_Right_," patronized Elena, "…okay…then, predict something about me," she challenged.

Bonnie sighed. "I see—"

Almost everyone—including myself, though I'll admit mine came out more like a scream—gasped when a loud noise cracked on the windshield and Bonnie _slammed _her foot down on the break so fast that I nearly went flying through the windshield. Luckily, though, I gripped onto the head seats so hard that I'm sure my nails would be forever embedded into the hard leather. The car finally came to a stop, swerving in the slightest over the tire squealing that brought it to its still.

"What was that?" Bonnie breathed out, panting from the attack. I clutched my own chest as I let go of the head seats and collapsed down onto the middle hump of the back seat, cursing Karl Benz for creating this goddamn thing we call a car.

"A freaking _bird_," I choked out, finding such surprise that I was able to form words. I knew it was probably more striking for Elena than it was for me, but _still. _I needed a few seconds before I could return to sisterly duties. "A _bird. _A _bird! _Goddamn nature!" I sighed and straightened myself before turning to Elena, who was recovering from her panic attack. "Are you okay?" I asked.

Elena nodded slightly. "It's okay. I'm fine."

"It came out of nowhere," Bonnie rushed out, obviously feeling sorry for doing this. But, after all, it wasn't her fault.

"Really," Elena pushed. "I-I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life."

I shook my head. "You don't need to have been in a car accident to be freaked out by cars, Elena, these little suckers are _deadly. _Almost thirty thousand deaths in the US are caused by car accidents. It's okay to be afraid," I promised.

Elena looked over at me, her eyes soft. "Always with the trivia, sis?"

I gave her a small smile. "I wouldn't be Madeline Gilbert without trivia, would I?" I returned, and Elena just gave a light laugh in response, but her expression gave an indication that she was anything _but _fine.

A moment of silence deafened us all until Bonnie spoke. "You know what," she said, pulling my attention, along with Elena's, back to her. "I predict this year is going to be _kick ass. _For all three of us. I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you two are going to be _beyond _happy."

Elena gave her friend a smile, but I frowned. "See? More of a 'common sense' thing than a 'prediction' thing, am I right?" I turned at Elena for confirmation, but she just laughed and turned away from me, and when I returned to being a civil person and actually buckling my seatbelt, Bonnie began to drive to school again.

It was a few minutes when we finally arrived at Mystic Falls High, which was a synonym for prison. I mean, think about it—_really_ think about it. You're forced to do work that you'll never need to know how to do, there are mean people _everywhere,_ we get a designated time for lunch and other things of that nature, no one trusted us, and even some of the teachers have _been _prison guards before. If that didn't spell out the word "prison", I have no idea what would.

"_Major _lack of male real estate," Bonnie complained with a disgusted look as the three of us walked down the hallway, watching as people we knew floated around the hallways carelessly. "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech! She looks a hot—can I still say 'tranny mess'?"

Bonnie looked behind her to say this pointedly to the two of us and in response, I just wrinkled my face while Elena answered, "No…that's over."

"Why would you even want to use that, anyway?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like something a grandmother would say."

Bonnie groaned. "Find a man, coin a phrase," she complained again in an amusing tone. "It's a busy year."

All of a sudden, her gaze flickered over to someone else in the hallway, and at this, Elena immediately turned around to see what had caught her best friend's attention. I, too, had turned around to see Elena look at Matt Donovan, her ex-boyfriend. Honestly, Matt (in my opinion) was the most attractive guy in Mystic Falls so far. I mean, really…the gorgeous blue eyes, the soft blonde hair, the fact that he was practically the spitting image of any guy any girl had ever imagined themselves with.

Elena had her chance to be _that _girl—the lucky one. Instead, the death of our parents had gotten to her _so _much, that she threw any future that she had away with Matt. She claimed it was because she didn't want to string him along; that she needed time, but I thought the whole relationship was a mess.

All right, so here's were the _real _truth comes out about me. No one other than Elena, Jeremy, Aunt Jenna, knew this—my parents _had _known this, as well—but I, Madeline Gilbert, was a virgin.

Shocker, I know.

Truth be told, it was quite a shocker in the town of Mystic Falls. I mean, what else was there to do here besides sex, you know? Caroline was _wayyy _past her first time, Elena's had been with Matt, and Bonnie wasn't quite the angel, either. I was the only one that hadn't been…oh, for lack of a better word, I just won't say it. Bottom line, I haven't had sex yet.

But was it really such a bad thing? My parents told me that it was okay if I thought it was the right time for such a brave act. Elena certainly seemed to take that advice at heart, unlike me. I had decided that no one at the time was really even worth _dating. _I tried it a few times with a few boys that I was interested in, but it wasn't all that great. To be honest, dating kind of _sucked. _I mean, there was so much _effort _into it! I honestly wondered if I wanted to date at all.

My mother had sat both Elena and me before the first day of ninth grade and explained that there would come a time when we would be faced with the possibility of loving someone. And there was a _fine _line between love and lust—and only we could differentiate that line. "Love" was something you could share with someone who knew _all _your secrets, who you trusted with your life, who you wanted to be with every second of the day, and who you accepted no matter the circumstance. "Lust" was purely its definition—a very strong desire, often of a sexual nature.

I hadn't thought of there ever being a "rush", per say, with my…_status_, I guess. But, I wasn't Elena, and Elena had chosen differently than I did. After a spending half of freshman year and almost half of sophomore year together, they'd finally sealed the deal. Now, it wasn't my place to judge—and I was _not _judging, merely opinionating—but I just didn't understand it. With or without our mom's advisement to be absolutely _positive _about the person you wanted to share that first experience with, I just didn't know how Elena could do it. Having sex with someone was something that shouldn't be done until you're absolutely sure that you want it. If not, then it becomes almost like a chore…and when you really do end up loving someone fully, they're just one of the many that you've bedded. It may seem odd or weird or _stupid, _but I frankly couldn't give a shit less about what anyone else thought of the matter.

Was it a religious thing? Hell no. Yeah, sure, Christians keep themselves virgins until marriage and everything, and…in a way, my philosophy was like that, too, sure. Except, I didn't really care if it came before or after marriage—if I was even going to _get _married, that is—it just had to be under the right circumstances. Unlike Christians, though, it wasn't because of a God that I was doing this; it was because of _me_. There are so many risks in just having oral sex…let alone having _actual _sex. It's not worth the risk unless it's someone you are honestly sure about giving it up to.

So far, I haven't met that someone. Honestly, I was skeptical that I ever would.

Even Jeremy didn't take my advice, but I was okay with it. Everyone in the town of Mystic Falls seemed to enjoy having sex, and that was perfectly okay with me…just as long as I wasn't included. No STDs for me, thank you.

After my sister tried to wave at Matt and he just turned away from her and remained grabbing his things, Elena turned back at Bonnie with a sigh. "He hates me."

"That's not hate. That's, 'You dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it…but _secretly, _I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits,'" Bonnie pointed out.

I scowled. "I'm sure it's not _Air Supply_." I looked over at Elena and judged her reaction. "All right, there's a _possibility_ of it."

"Can you go talk to him?" Elena asked, practically whining at me. I raised an eyebrow. "Please, Mads? Please? I need to know he's doing okay."

"What makes you think he'll talk to me?"

"You're his friend!"

I scoffed and gestured to Bonnie. "She is, too!" Elena just frowned at me, and I sighed heavily. "All right, _fine. _But you owe me," I pointed at her before fixing my backpack and spinning around on my heel to go over to Matt, who was at his locker. With a small smile, I greeted him, "Hey, Matt."

His dazzling blue eyes expectantly looked up to meet my brown ones. "Hi, Mads," he returned, with a solemn tone. _God, _I thought, depressed. _Definitely not okay. _"Did Elena send you over here?"

"Pfft…no."

Matt just snorted and turned back to his locker, but Bonnie was right—he was majorly depressed. "You will _always _be a bad liar."

I sighed and leaned against the locker next to his. "She's worried about you, Matt. Are you okay?"

Matt pursed his lips and looked me over, and I waited for his response. "I think I should be asking you the same thing," he said, his voice quieter this time. I suddenly realized what he meant, and I tried to maintain keeping a cool outlook. I might not be a good liar, but I _was _a good deceiver.

I nodded once. "I'm fine, Matt," I said, nodding again. "Thank you." I cleared my throat before continuing, "Now it's your turn."

Matt turned his lips up into a small smile as he looked behind me, and I didn't get the chance to see what was there before he spoke again, "I'll…see you later, Mads," he said before giving me his sorrow smile and walking in the other direction. I braced myself to speak, but I felt another two presences beside me. "

"He _does _hate me," Elena grumbled, watching as Matt walked away. "Is he okay, at least?"

I turned to her and pondered on what to say. I could tell her the truth…or I could lie. But _could _I lie? Like, physically? Considering Matt's earlier statement, I guess not. "No," I said truthfully, giving her a small shrug. "But, with time…"

"He'll come around," Bonnie promised, better at lying than I was. Elena sighed deeply again before we all took off in the direction of our next class, only to be stopped by Bonnie, who caught the sight of something that sparked her interest. "Hold up," she said, pulling Elena to a stop, which eventually pulled me to a stop. "Who's this?"

Inside of the office where Bonnie was peering into stood a male in a hoodie/leather jacket combination. "All I see is back," Elena stated.

"It's a hot back," Bonnie corrected, earning a chuckle from Elena.

"Is there _really _such a thing as a 'hot back'?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow to Bonnie. Bonnie nodded at me.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, for example…" She gestured inside of the office. "Whoever _he _is."

I almost pressed my hand to my face in pity. _Wow. _See, personally, I just didn't understand why butts were so cute.

"I'm sensing Seattle," Bonnie said in a dull, mocking tone. "And he plays the guitar."

Elena scoffed. "You're _really _going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?"

"Pretty much."

Bonnie's laughs echoed in my ear as I waited for this mystery guy to turn around and show himself, but my sister, who tugged on my jacket like a little girl, crushed my dreams. "Madeline, you need to take care of this."

"Take care of wha—?" I stopped at the end of my sentence when I turned to see Jeremy going into the school bathroom, and I realized what I needed to do. Elena looked at me with firm eyes.

"If you won't do it, I will."

I thought, for _just _a moment, about the credibility of her statement, but then I realized that Elena wasn't messing around. Obviously, she thought this was much more than just a phase, so I had to cave in.

"All right," I agreed with a sigh, beckoning her with me. Elena turned to Bonnie and warned her of our absence before the two of us went off and entered the boy's bathroom after our brother, who was most likely stoned.

"Whoa!" a boy said as Elena and I entered the bathroom. He looked at us like he'd never seen women before. "Pants down, chicks!"

"That doesn't even make sense," I protested, knotting my eyebrows in confusion of the stupidity some boys had these days. The boy just walked out of the bathroom without another word, and I turned around to find Elena _so _not happy with our brother.

"Great," she said, scoffing. "It's the first day of school and you're stoned."

"No, I'm not," Jeremy returned with that same Gilbert scoff.

"Where is it?" insisted Elena, who began to run her hands along Jeremy to find his stash. "Is it on you?"

"Stop!" Jeremy protested, trying to swat her hands away. "All right! You need to chill yourself, all right!"

"Guys—" I tried to get a word in, but neither one of them would listen to me.

"_Chill _myself?" Elena snapped. "What is that? _Stoner _talk? Dude, you are _so _cool," she mocked and began to search him again.

"Elena," I tried yet again, but she wouldn't listen to me. Jeremy screamed his protests, but she wouldn't listen.

"Stop! I don't have anything on me! Are you _crazy_?"

"You haven't _seen _crazy, Jeremy," Elena snapped again, this time harder than before. "I gave you a summer pass, but I am _done _watching you destroy yourself!" Jeremy tried to leave, but Elena stopped him from doing so. "No, no, no! You know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz _every _time, you got it?"

Jeremy shook his head. "You don't own me, Elena," he warned her icily, and Elena's mouth fell slack at the statement.

"I don't _own _you?"

"No, you—"

"Are you _kidding _me, Jeremy? I don't _own _you? That's your excuse for throwing your life away—?"

"I'm _not _throwing my life away!"

"Like hell you're not—!" The conversation was getting too heated, and I soon realized that I needed to step in as soon as I could. So, I stepped forward and yelled for them to stop, finding my voice surprisingly commanding and cold. Both Elena and Jeremy stepped away as I wedged myself between them, and they fell silent at my abrasiveness.

Like I said, I could _blow up _at someone if I got angry enough.

Our conversation halted when a toilet flushed, and an embarrassed male walked out very quickly, leaving the bathroom as soon as he'd finished his business. I shifted, waiting for the boy to leave, and that's when I spoke again.

"I will _not _let something as _dumb _as drugs"—I gave a pointed look at Jeremy, and then turned to Elena—"or as _stupid _as pride get in the way of this family. We _all _know that this is _not _what they would've wanted," I snapped. I fully turned to face Elena now, who was biting her cheek and crossing her arms at me in a defensive stance. "Go," I said softly, trying to make it so that I wasn't angry with her…and, I wasn't, really. I was more peeved that this had to happen _now. _"I'll handle this," I promised.

With her jaw locked, Elena turned on her heel and left the bathroom, leaving me to turn around to Jeremy. "I don't need a lecture from you, too, Mads," Jeremy warned me, avoiding my gaze.

"I'm not Elena," I said, shaking my head. "I won't give you a lecture. It's your life and you're going to do whatever the hell you want with it. You're right—Elena doesn't own you. She doesn't handle the right to throw away your life or not; you do." Jeremy stared at me, as if wondering where I was getting at. I crossed my arms and pointed a finger at him. "I thought this was a phase, but Elena seems to think that it's for real. And she may be right. Now," I started, relaxing, "I can't make your decisions for you, Jer, but I can sure as hell tell you what I think about them. And what I _think _is that you're being dumb and irrational and just a downright…" I strained myself for the right word. "…idiot!"

Jeremy stared at me, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. "Did you just call me an idiot?"

I frowned. "I'm serious."

"Since when?"

"_Please _don't throw away your life, Jeremy?" I tried, exhausted now. "Please? I don't know what else to do but _ask_. I need you to realize what you're doing here. Drug overdoses kill over thirty-eight thousand people, Jeremy—"

"Enough," Jeremy snapped at me, almost groaning. I stared back at him incredulously and shook my head.

"You don't get the right to talk to me that way," I said, crossing my arms and taking a defensive stance. "I am your _sister, _Jeremy. And I will _attempt _to do this the right way, but if you don't _stop _this, you and I will have one _hell _of an issue here." Jeremy just fell silent at my words, realizing that I wasn't joking around. _Way to ruin my day before it even began, Jer._ "Now go, Jeremy. I'll see you later," I mumbled and just watched as he brushed past me, exiting the bathroom in an angry stance.

To be honest, I couldn't give a rat's ass about how he felt. Drugs? Seriously? What kind of _idiot_—

"Oops," I said, stumbling away from the person I'd run into while leaving the boy's bathroom. There were concerning stares from other boys around the entrance as well as from the boy who I had accidentally collided with. "Sorry."

The boy laughed, and I realized that I'd never seen him before. _No, _I thought, realizing. _This is the guy? The new guy? Wow…_Not too shabby, actually.

"It's all right. Um, are the signs switched or something because…" He gestured behind him and I saw the tail end of my sister turning the corner.

I let out an awkward laugh. "Nope. Just…had some business to take care of. Carry on," I said, giving the new boy a light, kind smile before brushing past him and jogging to meet up with Elena. "You ran into him too?" I hissed in her ear.

"Yeah," she said, blood creeping onto her cheeks. "He's…"

"Yep," I said, shaking my head. "Yep. I _totally _agree."

* * *

School was school…boring, as usual. Elena decided to walk home afterwards, and I caught a ride with Caroline and Audrey back to the house, where I spent the night inside while Elena went out with everyone else. Apparently, she had invited Stefan Salvatore, the new boy at school, to come with her. Props to her for hooking into that one. He was so nice and sweet. Easy on the eyes, too. She asked me to go with her and Stefan to the Grill, but I declined. AP classes weren't going to pass themselves.

So, the next day of school dreaded on as usual. God, it was just so _boring. _Even though it was junior year, I was highly doubtful that I would last until senior year. Really, it was torture going through the every day routine of high school. It was the _same thing _over and over again! But, I said nothing, and just entertained others with my various fun facts. Sometimes, they worked as conversation starters. Other times, they were deadbeats.

Caroline had _begged _and _begged _for me to go to the back-to-school bonfire, but I declined and declined as often as she asked. Don't get me wrong, drinking alcohol was _amazing, _but there was just something to be said about doing it in front of your younger brother and younger sister so soon after your parents passed away. Elena seemed intent upon moving forward, Jeremy was still stuck in his druggie phase. And I…

Well, I went running, of course.

The music blasted through my ears as I ran…and ran, and ran, and ran. Actually, I think that song "I Ran (So Far Away" actually came up on my playlist once. My workout routine was getting longer every day, but I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and do nothing. My life now consisted of keeping myself busy: ranging from an early-morning jog, school, homework, dinner, an evening jog, a hot shower, and a movie to put myself to bed. Not _once _did I let myself have time to begin to think about what happened. It just wasn't healthy for me right now.

My volunteering at the high school would start up on the second week back, so I had to keep myself preoccupied. And, since Elena was at the bonfire with Jeremy and all my friends were gone, I had pulled on a pair of sweatpants and hooked my phone up to the arm sleeve. Twenty minutes later, I was _still _running, until I finally took a break and walked. A song that I wasn't particularly fond of came across my phone on the shuffled playlist, so I pulled it from my arm and hit the "next" button, still blazing from the heavy metal music that Jeremy thought had been funny to put on my phone.

That's when it happened.

I gasped loudly when I felt my phone slipping from my hand after I collided with someone on the street. Damn my nonexistent coordination. I braced myself for the impact, but instead, it was saved.

I let myself breathe again as I looked up to meet a pair of electrically vibrant blue eyes and a smirk that let me know I was dealing with the real thing. He said something to me with that infamous smirk, but I couldn't hear anything. I ripped an ear bud out of my ear and asked him, "Huh?"

"I said, you better be careful there," the man said, extending his hand which bore my phone. "Wouldn't want this to crack, now, would you?"

I shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't mind a new one," I teased, but grabbed the phone from his hand regardless. "Um…thanks. How did you…" The phone was too fast to be nabbed back—and that thought dawned on me now.

The man shrugged. "Just call me Superman," he retorted, a light smile ghosting across his lips. I couldn't help but laugh, but I knew that my cheeks were growing hot just as my laugh became nervous. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

His tone was amused. Playful, almost. "I'm out here for a jog. You know, a lot of studies show that it's better for most people to take jogs at night. It's not uncommon. I mean, I jog both in the morning _and _the night…which is weird, if you think about it…and possibly unhealthy—" I took in a deep breath and realized quickly that I was rambling. The smile that widened on his lips gave it away. "I-I'm sorry, you need to stop me. If I get nervous, I start babbling and then my words mush together and no one knows what I'm saying—"

"Relax," he said, mocking a deep breath. I took one at his chuckle, and at this, he grinned. I don't know why I was so nervous, but…I mean…I guess it had something to do with the fact that he looked like a _Victoria's Secret_ model…but the male version. Wait, did they have male _Victoria's Secret_ models? _No, you dumb idiot, _I snapped at myself. Let me rephrase: he appealed to me like high school boys were appealed to _Victoria's Secret_ models.

"Right," I said, taking in a deep breath. "Sorry about that. I'll just…" I tapped my phone in my hand and waited for a split—a _very _split—moment until I brushed past him and tried to breathe evenly. I didn't know whether he was staring at me or not as I left, and this bothered the hell out of me. I snuck a glance behind me, but when I saw the absence of this mystery character, I stopped in my tracks and turned around.

_Where the hell…_I trailed off in thought, glancing all around me but found no sight of the person I'd just talked to. He couldn't have been a figment of my imagination. I mean…I'm not _that _crazy!

But, regardless, I brushed the thought from my mind and sighed before I slipped my headphones back into my ear and began to run again.

* * *

**Like I said, different, right? Yes, the actual meeting of Madeline and Damon happened to be in the first episode. I didn't really feel like waiting three episodes for them to meet so...here we are. What's good about this is that I'll be able to write things that I wasn't going to originally do in flashbacks. Some things will be familiar to you all when we come across them because I've already written them in flashback. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! I will make sure to update ASAP. Review if you can :) **

_**Love, **_

_**BellaSalvatore1918**_

_**X**_


	2. The Night of the Comet

**Hello, everyone! It's been a little while since the last update, and for that I'm sorry. Plus, this is a late-night update, too...I just needed to get this done and updated because I made you all wait so long. This chapter is exceptionally short, which is sad, but you know, the next chapter _should _be longer. No promises. But we all know the first couple Season 1 episodes are boring. It'll pick up around Episode 6, like always. And here's the good thing, I'll be finishing Shiver most likely by the time school ends or a little afterwards...and while we have a three month wait for the next season, I'll be updating this! I wish I could say I planned this, but...no, I'm not that smart. I just thought it would be nice to have this story, too.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Tell me what you think at the end!**

**Disclaimer: Refer to the Pilot. **

* * *

**The Night of the Comet**

So, apparently, _I _had missed all the fun yesterday night. When I say fun, that's my morbid way of saying I missed the terror that had happened at the back-to-school bonfire. A wild animal had attacked Vicki Donovan, Matt's sister—or so people were speculating. This on top of all of the other rabid animal attacks in this town? The town was in an uproar. This included me, of course, because I didn't want to step outside not knowing whether or not I would get attacked by some freaky animal. Who _did_?

Nevertheless, school was first priority, as always. Elena woke up slaphappy in the morning, which kind of concerned me. But, first, of course, I ran into Aunt Jenna on my way out of my room as I shut the lights out.

"I need your opinion on something," Jenna said quickly, backing up as I walked forward. I raised an eyebrow, telling her indirectly to continue. "Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?"

I stared at her, confused. "Err…_what_?"

Jenna sighed. "Come on, Mads. Do I look professional-like? I mean, do I look conservative or…whatever?"

I inhaled to respond, but instead, I was quite curious. "Wait a second, what do you need to look _conservative _for? Do you have a job interview or something we don't know about?"

Elena walked out of her room as Jenna walked up to a mirror, fluffing her hair. "I'm going to Jeremy's parent-teacher conference," she told me. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Elena. "Ooh! Elena, quick question. Hair up or down?" Jenna turned away from me and faced Elena, posing for her by putting her hair up first.

"Sexy stewardess," Elena approved. Jenna put her hair down so that the auburn curls sat around her shoulders. "Boozy housewife." This time, her voice was disapproving. Jenna scoffed.

"Up it is." Elena laughed, and at this, I grew immediately concerned. The look on her face was more than just happiness because it was Wednesday morning. I mean, who's happy on a Wednesday? Not me, that's for sure.

"What's up with you?" I asked, leaning against the wall as Jenna inspected her hair and listened to the conversation at the same time. "You're…happy."

"Am I not allowed to be happy?"

"No, you're _allowed _to, it's just…weird," I said, pursing my lips. There was something up and I knew it.

Elena smiled. "I feel _good, _which is rare. So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on sunshine, and all that stuff." I widened my eyes sarcastically and she pointed her finger at me in an accusing way. "Don't rain on my parade."

I shrugged. "Wasn't gonna." I turned my head to peer into Jeremy's room beside me, but when I found a cold, empty navy blue bedroom, I frowned and turned to Jenna. "Did Jeremy already leave? He didn't say goodbye."

"Yeah," Jenna responded, sighing as she tousled her hair. "He left early. Something about getting to woodshop early to finish a birdhouse." Woodshop? Birdhouse? I frowned.

"Jenna…"

She looked at me and, seeing my expression, realized. "There _is _no woodshop, is there?"

I shook my head. "No…"

"Yeah."

I turned my head to Elena. "You don't think it's weird?" I asked, her, referring to the fact that Jeremy was "secretly" dating Vicki, the older sister of his older sister's boyfriend. "I mean…if you just cross marital ties—"

"Matt and I are over," Elena said, her voice dropping its happy tone for a moment. "So…if Jeremy wants to go after Vicki, he can. I just…I wish he wouldn't. She's nice and all, but she's a…bad influence."

I scoffed and followed Elena down the stairs. "Yeah. Okay. _That's _an understatement and you know it."

Elena sighed. "Well, what do you want me to say? That my ex-boyfriend's sister's a mean drug addict? Come on, I'm not _that _cruel."

"Well, I don't see Matt around!" I retorted as we both walked into the kitchen. "And, I mean…I wouldn't put it so…_crudely, _either."

Elena turned around, amused, and she placed her hands on the center isle, giving me a prompting look. "So how would _you _put it?"

"She's a very…challenged, typical teenager," I spoke, my voice light as I could make it. Elena chuckled.

"You make it sound like you're not one, too, Mads."

"Hey, I'm almost eighteen!"

"Yeah, and there's a _teen _in there." After that retort, I had nothing to respond with.

The first class of the day was History, with Mr. Tanner. This guy was my worst nightmare. I'd never had him before, but everyone says he's the toughest, most ruthless teacher in all of Mystic Falls High. I cursed myself for getting him, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was the only History teacher for the entire grade. Because of our small size, we didn't get multiple teachers for subjects. It was only classes with overflow that we brought in extra teachers.

I was nearly falling asleep in the class listening to Mr. Tanner drag on and on about this comet that we'd heard about last year, which was preparing us for this year. I wouldn't have minded if it was something interesting, but he just _droned _on about it. I get it; school is boring, but we _could _make it fun. But then there are those teachers who just hate the idea of students having ideas of fun, so they painfully drag out lessons and give pop quizzes.

It was when I heard a slight change in subject that I actually listened. "Are we bothering you?" Mr. Tanner snapped, looking at two students. It was just then when I finally realized why my sister had been so happy earlier. "Mr. Salvatore? Miss Gilbert?"

Figures. Elena was hung up on the new kid. I didn't blame her though, I would never lie about a male's attractiveness and…this boy _was _attractive. Did I ever find anyone attractive enough to go after myself? No. Of course not. But, apparently, Elena had, and that was the root of her happiness.

Elena shyly shook her head for Mr. Tanner, and I could see an embarrassed smile slide onto her lips before she turned and looked back at Stefan Salvatore, who caught her gaze in his.

To my surprise, Elena and Stefan walked out of class together, and Audrey had accompanied me in the hallway while I was slowly following my sister and her new boy toy, carefully depicting what they were doing. Stefan had a book in his hand, and they halted to a stop in the middle of the hallway, as did I.

"Hey." I hushed her, trying to hear what Stefan and Elena were talking about. The red-haired Forbes girl raised her eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to hear what my sister's saying to the new kid." But there was nothing but other students' mutters in the background. I let out a frustrated groan. "It's worthless!"

Audrey stared at the pair just a few feet away from us. "Do you know his name?"

I nodded. "Mmhmm. Stefan Salvatore."

Audrey gasped loudly. "Oh, _that's _him! Caroline was talking about him all week. Went on and on about it, too. She was obsessed with him the first day she came home but then, after the bonfire, she'd already moved onto some guy she saw at the Grill last night." The sophomore shrugged.

I turned to her. "Well, we all know Caroline bounces back fast. Besides, it looks like Elena's already snagged him up." I turned my head to the side to see Stefan and Elena smiling at each other, and that was the time I decided to go back to my old self and butt in. "Come on," I urged Audrey with a half-smile, and I pulled her with me in the direction of the two teenagers. "Hey, Elena," I greeted her as Audrey and I approached them.

Elena turned her head towards me, snapping out of the staring spell she'd created with Stefan. "Mads! Hey. Audrey," Elena acknowledged. Stefan turned to us, too, and my eyes drifted over to see him. Elena caught on quickly, props to her. "Oh, Stefan, this is my sister, Madeline. Mads, this is Stefan. She's—"

"In our history class," Stefan finished, nodding. "I realized. I'm confused, though. How is it that you two are in the same class…?" All the classes except for electives were separated by grade, he wanted to say.

I waved my hand. "Long story, but Elena and I are in the same grade. Audrey, however, is not." I turned to Audrey and then to Stefan. "This is my friend, Audrey. _She's _a sophomore," I added, clarifying.

"Well, it's nice to meet you two." Stefan was almost as slaphappy as Elena, which made me completely and utterly concerned for them both. I wasn't one to pry, but what _exactly _happened between them. Stefan turned to Elena. "Uh, listen, I've got to…get going to my next class, but I'll see you in English."

"Okay," Elena breathed, and watched as he walked away from us, with an extra smile towards Audrey and me for courteousness. When he was gone, Audrey and I stepped forward in his place and I tilted my head towards Elena.

"_Now _I understand why you're so happy."

* * *

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and _she_ said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity," Bonnie explained to us. I resisted the urge to laugh, but my head was relaxed against my hand and I couldn't help it.

"_What_?" I blurted out, shaking my head at her. Bonnie shrugged.

"It's true! That's what she said!"

Caroline nodded in disbelief. "Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline rolled her eyes at the stupidity of her own comment and Bonnie just sighed when Caroline continued the conversation at hand. It was making _me _uncomfortable—_me, _the oldest one at the table. Not even Audrey was bothered by the topic of my sister's sex life. "So then what?"

Elena sighed. "So then nothing."

"You and Stefan _talked_. All night? There was no…sloppy first kiss or touchy-feely of _any _kind?" Her voice was so incredulous and skeptical, it was astounding.

"Nope," responded Elena promptly. "We didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline prompted. Elena sighed inwardly and looked up at Caroline with annoyed eyes. Beside my sister, Audrey sighed.

"Elena, you might as well tell her. My sister won't give up until she gets the smut. She's run out of _Twilight _fan-fictions to keep her busy," Audrey shot, giving her sister a slight smile.

Again, Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yeah. _Okay. _Like I need some stupid story to get me going. _Please. _Experience," she said simply, and I sighed and straightened in my chair. Caroline gestured around the table and then looked at Elena. "Come on, Elena. Seriously. What happened?"

"We just talked for _hours_," Elena tried, but Caroline wouldn't have it.

"Okay, what is with the blockage? Just…jump his _bones _already! Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, _sex_." Caroline gave a wolfish grin at the end of her statement, raising her eyebrows to prompt the brunette beside me.

With my hand still against my cheek, I spoke, "Yeah. And then there's chlamydia. You forgot that part." Caroline, without looking at me, grabbed one of the unfolded programs we were making for the Night of the Comet and threw it at me so that it landed in my face.

"Make yourself useful, Mads. Leave it up to the adults to handle this," she said, waving her hand at me carelessly.

I scoffed. "You're kidding me! If _anyone's _the adult here, I am!"

Caroline turned her head sharply towards me. "See, now _that _is the funniest joke I've heard all year. You've kissed like _three _guys! And, correct me if I'm wrong, but the farthest you go is one and a _half _base. That's it!" I frowned at her, but I didn't correct her. She was right. "So, no, you're _not _an adult."

I was offended at this. "Who said you had to go past 'one and a half base' to be an adult?" I mocked, putting air quotes around her words.

Caroline slammed her hands on the table. "_Everyone_! It's a _common _rule, you have sex and _then _you're an adult. You can't be a virgin and be an adult, that's just ridiculous."

I sighed at her. "Profound, Caroline. Profound." I clapped once, but then the sight of Elena gathering her things beside me pulled Caroline and me out of the conversation at hand to watch her with confusion.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked, as confused as the rest of us.

Elena looked back with a sigh at Caroline. "Caroline's right."

Caroline looked at me and pointed at me in the face. "Ha!" I rolled my eyes and folded the program that she'd thrown at me while listening to Elena as she continued.

"If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do." She gave us all an insightful smile, and I scoffed.

"You woke up telling yourself that you wanted to have sex today?" I questioned her, looking up at my sister who was staring at me with eyes braced for a comeback.

"Shut up you…teenager."

Elena swiveled around and I threw one of the programs at her, catching her smile as she walked away from us and went towards her car to…apparently go have sex with Stefan. Hey, it wasn't my call.

Things were silent for a moment before Caroline glanced up at me in the middle of folding a program. "Who the hell even _gets _chlamydia anymore?"

"Women in our age group? Around three thousand per one hundred thousand," I told her, to which Caroline just responded with a blank expression. "A _lot, _Caroline. A lot."

* * *

The next day went by faster, considering the fact that only an hour or so after school, it was the Night of the Comet. Elena, Bonnie, and Audrey were off somewhere handing out programs, and I stayed with Caroline. Apparently, something had happened with Elena and Stefan, which caused her to come back to the house in a grumpy mood yesterday. She'd told me about it at night after Jenna and Jeremy both went to bed—apparently, Stefan started acting all weird when his brother was with her. I didn't even know Stefan _had _a brother, but, apparently, he did. Elena was convinced that this meant everything was over, but I wasn't so sure. If there was one thing I was aware when it came to my sister, it was that she was never fully _done _with something. Not until it was spoken in clean, crisp words.

All around us, festivities were taking place—face painting…hula-hooping…just plain old conversation. In fact, Caroline and I were in the midst of a conversation about what she had done over the summer, walking slowly across the grass. She had just finished telling me about some guy she'd met over the summer that she had started something with but ended things when she figured out that he'd had a girlfriend back home.

I knew Caroline was hesitant to ask the question, so she phrased it cautiously. "What about you?"

"Hmm?" I asked, my hands in my jean pockets as we slowly stepped forward with each other.

"Are you interested in anyone yet?" she asked, as if fishing for information. But I could tell that she was just trying to lighten the conversation—to get me to talk. It was something that was rare when it came to Caroline, but it happened. I raised my eyebrows and turned to her.

"Come on, Care. When have I ever been interested in a guy since the seventh grade?"

"Well, I don't know!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "We need to get you out more often. You have _no _idea what you can do if I fixed you up. Every guy in Mystic Falls would be at your door." I scoffed. "Really! Come on, there's no mystery guy you want to impress? No secret admirer?" she interrogated.

I was about to answer no, but that's when I remembered the guy I had ran into during my jog when they had all gone to the back-to-school bonfire. A feeling of…strange happiness and warmth coated my veins, and Caroline saw right through my hesitation. "I knew it!"

"Okay, there was _one _guy," I admitted, shrugging. "I met him yesterday on my evening jog."

Caroline's smile was as bright as her yellow dress. "Tell me _everything_!"

"There's nothing to tell." I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. "It was…nothing."

"Obviously, it wasn't nothing," she retorted pointedly. "So do you know his name? Do you like him? What does he look like?"

Her questions bombarded me, but the second I was about to answer them, I saw her freeze in her steps and smile. "Madeline," she gasped, hitting me in the arm. I hissed.

"Ouch. What?"

"Madeline."

"_What_?" Caroline began to walk forward, and I turned around at this. Her eyes were fixated on one man right across the way—standing right by the yield sign. I instantly recognized him, and I felt my breath catch. Am _I _a psychic, because I was literally just thinking about this stranger.

But…what worried me was why Caroline was moving towards him. "That's the guy from the Grill," she told me as I jogged over to her and we stared together. Her smile spread across her face as she sauntered closer, and I felt my heart drop fifty feet. The guy from the Grill? The one Caroline had gotten over Stefan with?

Yeah, that guy was the guy from my jog.

But, in a moment's notice, where I'd seen him last, he disappeared, and at this, all thoughts of Caroline's feelings drifted away from my mind and the only thing on it was where the _hell _could he have gone. Caroline's smile dropped instantly and she looked around, confused beyond doubt.

"What the…" Caroline trailed off and turned to me. "Did you see where he went?"

I shook my head. "No. Sorry."

Caroline gave a frustrated sigh. "It is so _hard _to find a guy these days! I'm going to go get a drink," she snapped at me, unintentionally, of course. "You want to come with me?"

I shook my head. "Uh…no. I'm good out here, thanks." An angered Caroline nodded at me before storming off to the Mystic Grill, and I felt like I had been victim to a Caroline hissy fit. She was so upset over this one guy, I mean…why the hell did it even—

I gasped loudly as I turned around and ran into someone, head-on. "What the…" My eyes drifted up to see the very man Caroline had just missed.

His smile turned up the corners of his mouth. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

I let out a nervous laugh and backed away. Swallowing, I tried to collect myself. "Well, _technically, _the last time we met, I dropped my phone and you caught it—"

"And then you started nervously rambling," he added, and I immediately stopped talking. _Damn it. _"I remember."

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Don't worry about it." His grin was somehow…devilish. It reminded me of Caroline's wolfish grin from this afternoon. "It's cute." He paused. "I'm Damon. Salvatore," he added.

I registered his name for a moment, and then put two and two together. "Salvatore?" I questioned. "As in…Stefan Salvatore?"

"That's the one," Damon sung, looking around the crowd. "I'm sure my little brother's got to be around here somewhere…" But he gave up on trying to find his brother, and then his electric eyes drifted down to meet mine. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it to you," I pointed out truthfully. A soft chuckle escaped from his lips. "But I'm Madeline. Gilbert," I added, copying his earlier stunt.

He seemed to realize quicker than I had that our siblings were dating each other. "Gilbert? As in Elena?" he questioned, cocking an eyebrow. I nodded. "Well. Isn't it a small world?"

"Small world indeed," I laughed, giving him an awkward smile before looking around the area of the town square, where I thankfully found Matt and quickly came up with an excuse. It was one thing to like a mysterious guy you'd met on your evening jog. It was one thing to like a mysterious guy you'd met on your evening jog that turned out to be your friend's mystery guy as well. And, it was _another _thing to have that same said mystery guy be your sister's boyfriend's brother. "If you'll excuse me…uhm…I have to go meet someone."

I scurried past him as fast I could, without the added necessity of a formal goodbye. My lips whisper-shouted the word, "Matt!" about ten dozen times before he finally heard me as I walked up to him briskly and fit my hand into the crook of his elbow.

"Hey, Mads…" he trailed off, skeptical of my arm that was looped in his.

I smiled at him. "Sorry. I just needed an excuse to get away from this guy…" I turned around slowly, making sure it didn't seem to obvious, and sure enough, he was gone. I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God. Okay. I'm good. Thank you." I slipped out of his grasp and Matt nodded.

"Anytime." His smile was warm and kind, and I gave him one back. But, it was then that I thought of his sister, and I felt obliged to ask.

"Hey…are you doing okay?" I asked, and at this, Matt tensed. "You know…with your sister and everything…"

Matt sighed. "Yeah. I mean, I guess I'm doing the best I can, you know?" I nodded in understanding. "Here, come on. Let's go get something to eat before the candle-lighting starts," he suggested. I was hesitant, thinking that it was probably a good idea, but instead, I decided to go with it.

Fly free. Walk on sunshine. After all, it was words out of my sister's own mouth.

* * *

The night had been a tough disaster—I spent most of it with Matt, who had completely flipped when he saw that Vicki was missing. Bonnie, Tyler, Jeremy, Caroline, Audrey, Elena, and I had spent the entire night searching for her, and we finally found her to find that she was safe—she'd just ripped her stitches open. I caught onto the scent that Matt was suspicious of Stefan for some reason…probably just jealousy.

The thing was, Elena had gone out after coming back home on a splurge decision. Jeremy wasn't home yet, Jenna was waiting up for him upstairs, and I was left to make myself dessert. I slapped a bowl of vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and Oreos together and stuck a spoon in it, licking my fingers free of the sticky chocolate sauce as I began to walk upstairs, seeing the time was reaching around ten o'clock. I had around an hour or two before I pushed my limits for bedtime.

It was when I was just rounding up the stairs when I heard the door, so I stopped. It pushed open as soon as I'd heard it, and Elena waltzed in, as if she was walking on air. I turned around on the staircase, and when she saw me, she didn't freak. Instead, she sighed of bliss.

I cocked an eyebrow. "What happened to you?" I asked, concerned.

Elena didn't seem bothered by my attitude. "I went to Stefan's," she said simply, and I got the picture.

"Oh." My nose wrinkled. "Gross. Tip for next time, I don't need to _see _how you look after having sex."

"We didn't have sex," Elena chuckled, which was surprising. Not the 'We didn't have sex' part, but the chuckling part. I would've thought that she'd snap at me or something. "We kissed," she corrected.

I smiled. "Oh. A _magical _kiss with Stefan Salvatore," I mocked, which caused her to straighten against the door and roll her eyes. "What'd his lips taste like? Honey? How cliché-ish."

Elena smiled at me and walked up the stairs—one, two steps, before she finally reached mine and stopped, patting me on the shoulder. "Trust me, Madeline, when you kiss a guy you _actually _like, you'll understand." I thought it was odd, my _younger _sister telling me that I didn't know what it was like, but it was nevertheless true. All the guys I'd kissed were under peer pressure or because of a dare or something. I had never kissed a guy I _actually _liked. "Night."

"Night," I responded, my voice a mutter, and I stood frozen while she walked up the stairs, an annoying trail of Cloud 9 trailing behind her.

* * *

**Is that foreshadowing I see? Madeline's never kissed a guy she actually likes, but...if you head on over to Shiver, I think she'd beg to differ :P Just kidding. We all know Madeline and Damon get together at some point. We'll get there soon, I promise. First we have to go through this Katherine crap. **

**Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! I'll update ASAP. Review! **

**_Love, _  
**

**_BellaSalvatore1918_**

**_X_**


	3. Friday Night Bites

**Hey, everyone. Sorry about the little wait, but here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it and review at the end if you can, please!**

**Disclaimer: Refer to the Pilot. **

* * *

**Friday Night Bites**

Mr. Tanner was dead to me.

As if it weren't bad enough that he graded me unfairly, he even _refused _to give me the time of day to discuss the matter! I had no idea what I did to him, but he was adamant upon refusing me yesterday after I received the test score for the pre-assessment he was taking up as a quiz grade. I ended up getting a disgusting "F" on the top of my paper, and though the test was _clearly _mine, I refused to believe it. I was good in History! I was excellent in it, in fact! For me to get a 65 on a pre-assessment is like Hitler going to get a beer with the Jews. It just doesn't happen!

I was making it a point today to talk to him if it were the last thing I did. He could _not _evade me. I was getting to the bottom of this.

"World War II ended in…" No one responded to his question, but it wasn't because no one knew the date, it was because they just didn't want to throw themselves on the chopping block. "Anyone got _anything_?" Tanner questioned further. Still no answer. "Miss Juan?" The girl shrugged, and Tanner exasperatedly looked around the room. "_No one_?"

I sighed and gave in. Damn it. My hand stretched above my head and Tanner pointed at me. "Miss Gilbert?"

"Nineteen forty-five," I said clearly, but said it in a pissy tone. Serves him right. Tanner nodded.

"Correct, Miss Gilbert." He looked around the classroom, paying no attention to me. I cursed him out in my head, but I could do nothing of the sort when I talked to him after class. "Pearl Harbor?"

There were whispers a little ways away from me, earning my attention and, unfortunately, Mr. Tanner's. My sister and her new boyfriend were chatting up a storm in laughter and happiness. It kind of made me sick.

"And, the _other _Miss Gilbert?" Tanner said pointedly, tearing Elena away from her conversation.

"Hmm?" Elena turned back to Mr. Tanner, caught. He looked down at her condescendingly.

"Pearl Harbor," our teacher repeated.

"Um…" Elena trailed off, and I _tried _to get her attention so I could tell her the date, but she didn't remove her eyes from Tanner. All of a sudden, there was a voice—Stefan's voice.

"December seventh, 1941," answered Stefan, covering for Elena. Elena relaxed in her chair with a devious smile, and Tanner took the moment to say a complete and obvious cliché.

"Thank you, _Miss Gilbert,_" he pointed out rudely. Stefan just shrugged.

"Any time," he responded through the slight burst of laughter around the room. Tanner looked stunned and, most importantly—_challenged. _I straightened in my chair. Oh, this ought to be good.

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin Wall?"

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you?" Tanner insisted, looking across the classroom trying to prove his unruffled attitude. "How good?" He turned sharply to look at Stefan and said, "Keep it to the year."

Stefan just nodded, and I straightened further. The question crossed my mind: can he _actually _do this?

"Civil Rights Act?"

"1964."

Tanner scoffed, "John F. Kennedy Assassination?"

"1963."

"Martin Luther King?"

"'68."

"Lincoln?"

"1865."

As this interrogation progressed, Tanner sauntered towards Stefan's desk while the teenager just blatantly answered the questions, unscathed. I, for _once, _was actually _impressed. _Stefan just jumped into the answers, he didn't even think about them. I know that _I, _at least, had to think it over before answering. This guy was a robot.

"Roe vs. Wade?"

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board?"

"1954."

"The Battle of Gettysburg?"

"1863."

"Korean War?"

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha!" Tanner exclaimed, throwing the word in Stefan's face. "It ended in '52!" He chuckled and turned away, and I straightened, thinking it over. Korean War…Korean War…

"Actually, sir," Stefan interrupted as Tanner walked away from him. "It ended in '53."

"He's right," I blurted out, causing Tanner to look over at me with the same dirty expression he gave Stefan. Everyone looked at me now, and I shrugged. "Mr. Tanner, it_ was_ 1953."

Tanner looked back and forth between Stefan and me and then snapped, "Look it up, somebody!" Everyone rushed to either look it up on their phones or in their notes, but there was suddenly an answer for us.

A kid in the front row began, "It was 19…53," he chuckled, proving us both right. I relaxed, satisfied in my chair at our victory, and I turned my head to see Stefan, who was giving me an impressed smile. I gave him one back, and realized that this guy was the perfect male version of _me. _I liked him.

Suddenly, there was a scattered applause across the room, and one look from Elena and I could tell that she was head over heels. I gave no thought to what she said about last night—how I would know how it felt when I kissed someone I actually liked. That day, I realized sadly, was _far _off into the future. I was just happy that her day had come…_again_.

"See, _Madeline, _I can understand," Elena said, giving me a pointed glare as me, Stefan, and Elena all walked out of the classroom together. "She turned down skipping freshman year, but…how did _you _know all of that?"

The question was direction towards Stefan, who just shrugged and said amusingly, "Years and years of crossword puzzles. It's a…a _loner _thing."

Elena gave him a pointed stare, playful, yet subtle. I interrupted their tiny little romantic stare. "Well, I for one, was impressed. And it's hard for anyone to impress me, Stefan, so you should do yourself a favor and pat yourself on the back."

Stefan chuckled under his breath. "I'll be sure to do that." He glanced over at Elena and inhaled. "Uh…I've got to get going, but I'll…see you later?" Elena nodded in return, and Stefan gave her a smile and then gave one to me, as well. "I'll see you tonight, Madeline."

I raised my eyebrow, but Stefan walked away before I had a chance to get him to explain. Instead, Elena and I pulled to a stop in front of her locker, and I leaned against the wall beside it. "So…why, exactly, am I seeing Stefan tonight?"

Elena sighed deeply. "Bonnie's having some…_issues _accepting Stefan as my new boyfriend, so I figured that it would be good if I got them in the same room together."

"I'm still not sure how this involves me…"

"Mads," Elena said pointedly, turning over to look at me with accusing eyes. "You're my sister. Come on, you _have _to help me with this."

I frowned at her. "No, sis, I don't _have _to help you do anything," I told her in a proud tone. But, I sighed, and shrugged. "Now that doesn't mean I won't _choose _to help you with this." Elena's smile spread across her face like she had one, but I rolled my eyes. "Come on, you knew I was going to be home tonight, anyway. The closest resemblance of a life that I have is Netflix and ice cream. Anyways, why is Bonnie having trouble accepting Stefan?"

Elena inhaled sharply as she swapped books in her locker. "It's this whole…witch thing. She's letting it get to her head. I-I don't know, she believes that there's something _bad _about Stefan."

After a slight hesitation upon hearing this silly mumbo jumbo, I snorted. "Okay. One ticket to Crazyville for Bonnie Bennett coming right up. I'll make sure to book the American Airlines ticket this evening." Elena rolled her eyes. "Come on, Elena! This is _ridiculous_! There are no such things as…_witches _or things that go bump in the night. She's overreacting."

Elena sighed and shut her locker. "I know, Mads. I know. But that doesn't change the fact that she's still being…weird around Stefan and…well, she's our best friend. _My _best friend. If I'm going to date Stefan, she needs to be okay with it. That's what this whole dinner's about, anyway." I nodded as we began to move to another class together. "So…will you help?"

I bumped her in the shoulder. "Didn't I already say yes to this?" I smiled, and Elena smiled back at me as we continued down the hallway.

* * *

"Mr. Tanner!" I called out as I saw my History teacher in his football coaching uniform. It was odd, how _he, _of all teachers, was our football coach. It seemed like he wanted nothing to do with the school and yet, here he was, dealing with students for an extra five hours maximum for practice. Tanner stopped upon hearing my shout, turning around as I rushed up to him just outside of the school.

"Miss Gilbert," he greeted me as I slowed my jog upon reaching him. "What can I do for you?"

"We can talk about this," I said, handing him back the electronic card sheet that I used to score my answers, labeled on the top with two big, fat, ugly numbers, a 6 and a 5 in that exact order. Tanner looked over the sheet, shrugged, and handed it back to me.

"What about it?"

I scoffed. "Well, I think it's a mistake."

Tanner took the sheet from me again and looked at the name. "No, it's no mistake. Your name is printed right there. Madeline Gilbert. Thank you for wasting my time, Miss Gilbert, now if you'll excuse me—"

"Wait a second," I said, stopping him again. A very irritated Coach Tanner turned around, his jaw squared. "I've looked over this thing and it looks like I just misnumbered. I'd be happy to answer the question that I missed and you can rescore all the other ones manually—"

"And what makes you think I have time for that?" Tanner snapped angrily, making me fall silent. "It's not my fault you miscalculated, Miss Gilbert, I'd blame it on a user error, _not _mine. You have two options: to take the computer gave you or to take the grade that _I _give you—which will be a zero after this conversation. Have you decided on which option you'd like to choose?"

I gritted my teeth, refraining from barking at him with all of the anger I had built up inside of me. What an _asshole, _I wanted to shout, but I kept my mouth shut tight for the sake of my sanity. Tanner nodded.

"Wise choice, Miss Gilbert, now if you'll excuse me." Without further hesitation, he spun around on his heel and walked back into the school for something, and I finally let out a frustrated breath of air. Why did he have to be such a _dick _about it? I just missed _one _question and I get an F for it? The worst part of it was, I was sure he _knew _that I was smart enough to get the A, but it was like he wanted to see me fail. It made his dull and uninteresting life more bearable.

I refrained from kicking my foot like a twelve-year-old having a hissy fit, and I looked off into the distance, where the football team and the cheerleading team happened to be practicing. I saw Elena and Bonnie standing as Caroline hopped out of a blue vehicle, one driven by a man in a leather jacket disguised by Aviators. I squinted in the bright sunlight, trying to make out the face of the man in the car, and it was when he ripped off his sunglasses and threw his attention in the direction of mine that I straightened, confused.

It was at that exact moment that I realized who it was. Mystery guy from my jog—Damon Salvatore, Stefan's brother. He shifted the car to drive and made a U-turn, for a brief second coming a few feet away from me, and then driving off back onto the road. I had every question in the world, but they were all answered when I thought back to a few seconds before and who had gotten out of his car.

_Caroline, _I sighed, biting my lip. _Of course. _

* * *

"You explain it!" Bonnie challenged me and Elena as we walked around the kitchen, trying to get dinner ready. Elena was freaking out, trying to make sure everything was perfect, but I just snacked on the bowl of chips she was going to put on the table sooner or later. "Last night, I'm watching _9-0. _Commercial break comes on and I'm like, 'I _bet _it's that phone commercial!'. And, sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris…and he flies back…they take a picture…"

Elena chuckled in disbelief. "Oh, come on! That commercial's on a constant _loop_!"

"Fine," Bonnie grumbled. "Well, how about this? Today, I'm_ obsessed _with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing eight, fourteen, and twenty-two. How weird is that?"

I shrugged and threw my hands up in the air. With a mouthful of chips, I said, "Why does that have to be weird? I see numbers all the time, it's called _math class_. Haunts my dreams." Bonnie looked over at me, giving me a pointed look, and I sighed. "Fine. If these numbers are so special, then…" I straightened, gasped, and snapped my fingers. "Let's go buy a lottery ticket! I'm sure they'll give me one, my birthday's in a couple of days, anyway!"

Bonnie gritted her teeth at my teasing, and Elena just laughed beside her. "Have you talked to your Grams?" Elena asked considerately.

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch," Bonnie sighed and then turned to my sister. "I don't wanna be a witch. Do you wanna be a witch?"

"I don't wanna be a witch." Elena glanced over at me. "Do you wanna be a witch?"

"Of course I don't wanna be a witch—wait a second, can we all stop repeating the same sentence," I snapped, shaking my head. I sighed heavily and rubbed my temples at the conversation, but I spotted Elena putting her store-bought pasta into a bowl. "Who the hell do you think you're fooling when you do that, Elena?"

Elena looked up at me and pouted playfully. "What, like you could do better?"

"Hey, I'm a better cook than you are!" I returned. She laughed.

"Oh...uh huh, sure you are. _That's _why you nearly gave me and Jeremy a heart attack when you tried—and _failed_—to make cookies for Christmas in the second grade."

I waved my head. "I could barely use my easy-bake oven back then. Give me a break."

Elena just chuckled and then looked around. "Okay…serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons…?" She turned around, forgetting where our dishes were, and went to a row of drawers behind her.

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie said abruptly, taking me and Elena by surprise. Elena hesitantly moved forward and reached inside the drawer Bonnie had directed her in, pulling out the serving spoons she'd been looking for.

I scoffed. "Please, Bonnie, you've been in this kitchen a million times. There's nothing _witchy _about it."

Bonnie turned around at me. "Yeah, _that's _it," she retorted, and I frowned at her upon the suggestion. I was sticking true to my theory—witches did not exist. Psychics, though their intentions are cool and everything, don't exist, either; they're _acts. _Classic acts to get money from poor, gullible people.

Before any more talk of witches could take place, the doorbell rang, and Elena immediately snapped her head to it. She exhaled anxiously.

"Okay," she began, turning to Bonnie. I straightened and fit one final chip in my mouth. "He's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal, _loving_ self."

I stared after Elena as she left the kitchen to answer the door, and I narrowed my eyes. "'Normal, loving self'? God, Stefan really did a number on her," I mumbled and turned around to fill the bowl of chips with more so Elena wouldn't gang up on me about it. After I finished pouring the chips into the bowl to replenish the supply, I turned around to find Bonnie sighing heavily, almost in disbelief.

"You okay?" I asked her, causing Bonnie to turn around and face me.

"Hmm?" She shook her head. "Yeah. I'm fine." But I couldn't protest to her obvious lie—I may not tell lies well, but I can detect them well if I know the person—because Elena came in with Stefan on her side, ready for dinner.

We all sat down at the table a few minutes after setting everything up. I could tell Stefan was enjoying the food, though he could see right through our fancy silverware and, indeed, was aware that it was take-out. The dinner was civilized, yet awkward, with Stefan at the head of the table, Elena on his right, Bonnie on his left, and me right beside Bonnie for support.

Elena was determined to break the ice first, so she looked over at me. "Hey, did you ever talk to Tanner about your grade?"

I sighed heavily and angrily thrust my fork at the pasta on my plate. "Yeah," I mumbled. "I did. Apparently, I skipped a question on accident, so I misnumbered, and he won't let me do anything about it."

Beside me, Bonnie widened her eyes. "Oh, my God, that's _terrible_," she hissed.

"I know," I said, my voice almost a growl. Instead, I sighed. "But, there's nothing I can do about it, I already asked him and he said no. I'll just have to spend the rest of the semester getting hundred and ten's on my quizzes to make up for the hit." I shook my head, trying to get the thought off my mind, and then I turned to Stefan to refocus tonight's topics on him. "So…Elena told me that you tried out for the football team. Did Tanner give you a hard time about that, too?"

Stefan shook his head. "No, not really. I mean…he let me on the team, so I must've done something right." I wanted to say it was unfair, but that would be petty of me, so I refrained.

Elena smiled and looked over at Bonnie. "Bonnie, you should've seen Stefan today! Tyler threw a ball right at him and—"

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie interrupted her, quite rudely, making the room fall silent again. But Elena was hardly one to give up.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena insisted, earning a pointed, vicious glare from Bonnie.

"Um…divorced. No mom. Live with my dad," she explained, nodding to him. She scoffed, but Stefan nodded in understanding while Elena knotted her eyebrows.

"No…about the witches," she clarified, earning Stefan's attention. _Not this again_, I wanted to groan, tired of the conversation, but there was nothing I could do. I promised to help Elena with this. Elena turned to Stefan and spoke, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's _really _cool." She threw a piercing glance at Bonnie, who shook her head.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use."

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan interrupted, his voice soft and attentive. "I'm not…too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie explained to him.

"Really?" Stefan asked, almost fascinated. Bonnie just gave a smile and shrugged. "Salem witches?"

"Yeah." She chuckled.

"I'd say that's pretty cool," Stefan commented, throwing a glance towards Elena, who laughed in agreement. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really?" I asked him, confused. "Because…it sounds like a ghost story to me."

Stefan shook his head. "No, not at all. Salem witches are…heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity." _And not real, _I added in my own bitter tone, but I just brushed it off and went back to silently eating my pasta as Bonnie straightened proudly.

"Yeah. They are," she agreed, and across from her, Elena smiled to herself triumphantly, but the doorbell suddenly sounded, and I—bored out of my mind—jumped up to get it.

"I-I've got it," I told them, getting out of my chair.

I heard Elena as I began to walk away, her confused tone as she mumbled, "I wonder who that could be." I jogged over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to see one of my best friends, a perky blonde cheerleader bearing a store-bought red velvet cake in her hands.

"Surprise!" Caroline said happily, a smile spreading across her face. I didn't notice until a few moments after I answered the door, but behind her was Damon, blending into the night with his dark clothing. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so…we brought desert."

"Oh…" I said, giving her a smile.

"Hope you don't mind," said Damon behind her, giving me as bright of a smile as Caroline gave me. I looked up at him just as the blonde teenager crossed our threshold without an invitation, showing me the cake. I barely even recognized it when Stefan walked up to the door, too, facing his brother head-on.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan questioned in a hard, icy tone. I turned around, the cake in my hands, and watched as Damon gestured to me.

"Waiting for Madeline to invite me in." He stepped closer to the threshold, but politely waited outside. Stefan looked over at me and then back at Damon.

"I'm sorry, have you two met before or…?" he asked, but it was more directed towards Damon than it was to me. Instead, I answered it.

"Uh, yeah. Damon saved my phone from making headway into the pavement." I turned to hm. "You're fine, just—"

"No, no, no!" Stefan stopped me, frantically, cutting me off. I looked up at him, confused beyond a second belief, and Stefan shook his head. "He-He can't, uh…He can't stay," Stefan forced out. I looked back and forth between the two brothers, boggled. "Can you, Damon?"

Damon scoffed at his brother, but Caroline, behind me, just laughed. "Get in here," she demanded, almost scoffing. Stefan looked over at me and then shrugged.

"We're just…finishing up. I'm sure you and your sister have some stuff to finish before tomorrow—"

I shook my head, and, though grateful for Stefan's thoughtfulness, turned to him. "It's all right, they can join, I guess." My attention now turned towards Damon. "Come on in."

Damon's eyes flickered from me, to the ground, to his brother, and a smile spread across his lips as he stepped over the threshold, brushing past both me and Stefan. I shut the door that was just beside Stefan's arm, but I was completely confused at Stefan's reaction. I knew, from Elena's stories, that him and his brother had some…_issues, _but this was a little extreme. They looked like they were about to lunge at each other right in the foyer.

Damon turned around at me. "You have a lovely home, Madeline," he praised, to which I just nodded and adjusted my grip on the cake in my hands.

"Uh…thanks," I responded, resisting the urge to roll my eyes, but nevertheless, I took Caroline with me to the kitchen so we could start serving it. Elena and Bonnie greeted Caroline, but Elena was more concerned as to why Damon was in our house, too—nevertheless, she went with it, standing beside Stefan the whole time. After serving the cake and making everyone coffee for a refreshment, we all convened in the living room and filled Caroline in on Stefan's new achievement.

The blonde laughed sincerely, not in a condescending way, but in a disbelieving way. "I can_not _believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team! Oh, Tyler must be _seething_! But, good for you. Go for it."

Damon, who was sitting on the couch with Caroline on his lap, nodded. "That's what I always tell him; you know, you have to _engage. _You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you, you have to go get it!" he whispered encouragingly. It was awkward, watching as Stefan gave his brother a reserved glare across the room and Damon just looked at him with an amusement.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today," Caroline added. "It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're _ever _going to learn the routines."

"I'll work with her," Bonnie interrupted sharply, throwing a glance at Caroline. "She'll get it."

"I guess we can put her in the back…" Caroline whispered to herself, plotting. I looked over at Elena, confused.

"Wait a second, what happened at practice?" I asked, though the answer was obvious. Elena sighed.

"It's not a big deal," she said, shrugging to me, and I knew that was the end of the conversation. I wish I could've been more helpful, but I wasn't a cheerleader. Far from it, actually. Maybe I had the body of one, but I had the mind of a nerd. I, happily, found a medium so that I wasn't kicked around every day. People still looked at me like I was foreign in our school—I mean, come on. In a small town like Mystic Falls, the _only _thing to do is drink and have sex, but I found a way around that, and that made me the odd woman out.

"Hey, you don't…you don't seem like the…cheerleader type, Elena," Damon began in a light tone. My sister drank her coffee and said nothing, causing Caroline to answer for her.

"Oh, that's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, Elena and Mads are just going through a bit of a blah phase right now, but Elena used to be…" Caroline let out an outrageous laugh. "…_way _more fun! Of course, Mads never came off her high horse to even have a _sip _of beer, but there was that one time—"

"Caroline," I said softly, sighing. I'd known Caroline long enough to know when to give up and just scold her in the proper way—not to yell at her, but to tell her, disinterestedly, that she went too far. The blonde paused, realizing her mistake.

"And…I say all that with complete sensitivity."

"I'm sorry, Elena. Madeline," Damon apologized, looking back and forth between us both on the couch. "I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost _every_ single person we've ever cared about die."

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan interrupted, his tone cold. Damon sighed.

"Ah, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The _last _thing I wanted to do was bring _her _up."

I had seriously no idea what he was talking about, so I just let it roll off my back as I stood up and looked at everyone. "Okay, so I'm going to start on the dishes."

Elena looked up at me, making a sound as she swallowed her coffee and stopped me before I went. "Are you sure, Mads? I'll—"

I shook my head. I needed something to distract me from the elder Salvatore brother sitting on my couch. "Don't worry, I've got it." I gave her a light smile and then made my way into the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes. I could hear chatter in the other room, but eventually, I was brought all of the dishes and the dishwasher was starting to pile up.

"One more." I turned around to find Damon holding out a glass for me to take, and I let out a deep sigh of frustration. How did _I _get stuck with the dishes? _That _was my question.

"Another one?" He smiled at me and I reached out to take with an irritated smile, but what happened was unexpected the glass slipped through my hands and I braced myself for the impact of the glass shattering. Instead, I heard a soft tap, and when I realized what had happened, Damon straightened and held out the glass to me for the second time.

I scoffed and looked up at him, unintentionally laughing. "_Nice _save, Superman," I taunted, but I was really amazed at the movement. He must have some great reflexes. Regardless, I took the glass out of his hand—this time it didn't slip—and turned around to the sink.

Damon pointed a finger at me and spoke, his voice light and airy. "I like you. You know how to laugh. And you know, your sister makes my brother smile. Something I haven't seen in a long time."

"What makes you say that?" I questioned. Stefan seemed like he could be uptight sometimes, sure, but he also seemed fun. At least, that's what I got whenever he was around Elena, so…yeah, maybe Damon had a point.

He tilted his head at me, which I caught as I glanced up at him. My heart raced involuntarily, but I kept telling myself that he was dating one of my best friends. It didn't matter what I felt, Caroline was the one who'd been brave enough to actually seal the deal. I, on the other hand, was fairly sure I'd never be—_especially _with someone as devilish as Damon. Something in the way he looked at me…or, at anyone, really, it was damning.

"Elena didn't tell you?" Damon asked me, to which I knotted my eyebrows. "Stefan's ex-girlfriend died a couple years ago. Katherine," he clarified.

I stared at him and realized that…_no, _my sister hadn't told me that little detail, which was strange. Not that I expected to tell her every single little detail in her love life, it was just…something as big as this, she was bound to spill the beans. I decided, however, not to make a big deal about it, and I picked up a plate in the sink and brought it to the dishwasher.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did she die?" I inquired cautiously, trying to be considerate. Damon grabbed the plate from my hand before I was able to put it in the dishwasher.

"A fire. Tragic fire."

I didn't mean to pry—it was probably rude of me to, but Damon's expression made me want to ask a million questions. Plus, I knew I wouldn't get any of this out of Elena. It was just a hunch considering she didn't tell me any of this.

So, I asked him another question. "What was she like?"

"She was…beautiful," Damon admitted to me, shielding his eyes for a moment. Maybe it was teenage hormones, but hearing a gorgeous older man call someone else beautiful was like a knife to my chest for some odd reason. I didn't ponder too much over it, but he seemed to realize my distaste. "A lot like you, might I add."

I looked up at him, trying not to do anything that might brand me as a silly seventeen-year-old in the eyes of Damon. So, I held back a scoff at the obvious attempt at flirting, but a smile rose and fell on his lips all in the same second before he continued.

"But, she was also very _complicated _and selfish, and at times not very kind. But she was sexy and seductive."

At this, I allowed myself to scoff. It was ridiculous sounding to anyone, not just me. "It sounds like _she _was more than _just _a friend to you," I challenged, eyeing Damon cautiously. There was something to be said about going after your brother's girl, but I didn't know the full story. He could've met her first for all I knew.

"Nicely deduced," he praised, chuckling.

"I'm very smart."

"I'm sure you are."

"I am!" I retorted against his sarcasm, but I knew there was a faint smile on my lips. Damon laughed at my little outburst, never taking his eyes off of me.

"I know."

I gave him a better smile, but it began to fade as time increased and I realized he was staring at me in a way that I didn't care to be stared at by my best friend's new boyfriend. While Damon closed the dishwasher, I turned around to the center island and began to fold the towels on the surface, attempting to distract myself. It was when I heard Damon's voice in my ear that I realized we weren't done talking.

"I would punch that teacher in the face if I were you," he said softly, moving past my body to sit on one of the stools beneath the island. He began to help me fold the towels, being productive while he spoke. "You didn't deserve what he did to you."

I laughed, embarrassed. No doubt there was a flush of red that made its way onto my cheeks. "You saw that, huh?"

"Total douchebag," Damon commented. With a smile, he added, "_Mr. Douche._"

I laughed at this, not embarrassed this time, but amused. He was totally right—Tanner was a douche, and I didn't deny that one bit. Nevertheless, I always tried to speak nice about people behind their back. In front of their face, though…that was a different story.

"He's not the best," I admitted, but it was a complete understatement. Damon glanced at me with pointed eyes, and I could tell that he saw straight through my considerate lie. Something about him…maybe the way he was playing with me, it made me want to break all of my rules, so I sighed. "Okay, _yeah. _You're right. Douchebag."

"Mm," Damon agreed with a large grin. "What's his name? Mr.…?"

"Tanner," I finished for him. "Also known as Mr. Douche," I teased, giving Damon a small smile.

"You'll get through it," Damon promised, his eyes locking with mine. "And if he does it again, I'll kick his ass."

I laughed, finding it easy and simple to have a smile slide across my face. Actually, I think it was the first time I _genuinely _laughed in the past three months. The darkening thought, though, clouded my mind, and I was forced back into a place under a dark cloud. Damon watched me, I noted, as I made my way from happy to sad all in one, lonely instant, but I tried to keep my best face on.

"I might have to take you up on that sometime," I told him, but I didn't _mean _the words. It was a common courtesy, but something in his eyes made me realize that he didn't think of it that way. And, quite frankly, I wasn't so sure I did, either. There was one thought and one thought only running through my mind, and it was all about _him. _It wasn't based on the fact that he was the new bad-boy in town and that he was dating my best friend. There was something about this guy that made me want to trust him. There was something…_connecting _us, dare I say.

If I was a believer in a certain type of magic, I would've thrown caution to the wind at that point. Unfortunately for me, I thought with my head instead of my heart, and that's what caused me to turn away from him and place the towels back in the drawer in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry. About Katherine." I turned around at him eventually to find him sitting where he was last at, staring at me. "Stefan wasn't the only one who lost her. You did, too."

Damon stared at me, giving me a look that seemed foreign for a guy like him to be giving a girl of any kind—even an unimportant one like me. But, from what I'd heard just in the last few minutes, it sounded like Damon, Katherine, and Stefan had been through their fair share of fights, which I guess made sense. The reason Stefan and Damon brawled so much so silently over their own stares at each other was because of this woman, I just had a feeling. A love triangle like that, a juicy one that you only read about in books…well, that's bound to make an impression on a pair of siblings.

Damon opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Bonnie and Elena's laughter echoed in the hallway as they walked into the kitchen and spotted the two of us inside, stopping upon our presence. The both of them looked at us, confused, yet still unsuspicious.

"Need some help?"

* * *

I hated these events—the football games at Mystic Falls High. But, unfortunately, my group of friends happened to not be as reserved as I was, so I really had no choice in the matter. Elena, however, surprised me with her decision to ditch her uniform and piss off Caroline at the homecoming game without telling her beforehand that she was quitting the team. It soon grew dark outside, and the excitement for the team's upcoming victory was raging on the school grounds. Mr. Tanner was giving an infamous speech about how we would kick ass, but all I could do was think about Damon's offer to kick Tanner's ass. I was seriously considering on taking it up. Tanner was pissing me off every moment I listened to him and his bullshit "Your Timberwolves are _hungry_" speech that he gave every single year since we got to the school. So, unable to take the crap any longer, I walked off, needing space from the applauding, cheering teenagers.

"Let me guess. Mr. Douche again, huh?"

I jumped, spinning around on my heel, but I relaxed as I saw Damon come forth in the darkness, easing my suspicion. I clutched my chest violently, my heart slowing down as I tried to tell it that it was only him, but it wouldn't listen. It still pounded hard in my chest at the fright.

"God!" I shouted, somewhat sighing.

Damon puckered his lips. "Actually, it's Damon, but I'll take that, too." _Self-conceded jackass, _I thought to myself, but the amusement didn't go unnoticed in him. "What happened?"

I shrugged. "Nothing…happened." I began to walk in the direction I was going, and Damon walked with me. "He's just giving everyone a crap speech and I can't handle it. It's going to be…" I sighed. "A _fun _semester."

Now my tone was bitter, and Damon quickly caught onto that, laughing. "A whole semester? That blows."

"Yes." I chuckled, shaking my head. "It does. It really does. It doesn't help that everything is…changing and…when I say everything, I mean…_everything_."

Damon raised an eyebrow beside me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," I began, letting out an exhale. "Elena is now dating the hot, mysterious new kid in town—your brother, my _own _brother is a stoner slumming it with Elena's ex-boyfriend's sister, Bonnie's talking gibberish about being a witch, Caroline's dating _you_, and I'm just…me."

"Well, that's what happens with death," Damon reasoned, shrugging. "Everything starts to change in the blink of an eye."

"Yeah," I agreed, but I shook my head. "But that's the thing—the only thing that's changed regarding myself is that I go for two jogs a day and I've switched to DVD _and _instant for Netflix. Everyone else's lives are changing and I'm not." There was a silence, and I scoffed. "You probably don't want to hear this, anyway, and here I am, just rambling, and rambling, and rambling—"

"You're doing that…thing again," Damon stopped me, pulling us to halt in our tracks. We both turned to each other, and I could see a genuine smile on his lips, and I had to copy it for some unknown reason. "Look, maybe your time just hasn't come yet. Eventually, everyone changes. You just have to…do it on your own, sometimes. The death of your parents is hardly something to get over so quickly. These things will take time."

I closed my eyes, scoffed, and turned my head, giving him the slightest smile. "Yeah. While everyone else moves on with their lives, I'm out here talking to…_you_."

Damon jerked his head back, almost offended. "And, is there something wrong with me?"

"Well, other than the fact that all I see you as is a floating head because of all"—I waved my hands over his dark clothing that made it look like _he _was the night—"…_that_, there is the small fact that you should probably be getting back to Caroline now."

Damon wavered for a moment, and I could tell he was deciding whether or not to take that as headway to leave or headway to stay. Eventually, he nodded. "Yeah. I probably should be. I just have one more question for you first."

I crossed my arms and shrugged. "Well, go ahead."

"Your teacher," he began, a devilish grin on his face that matched the very tone of his words and of his outfit of choice. "If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to fulfill my promises and kick his ass."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you'd do that."

Damon shrugged and smiled. "I would. He's a jerk, anyways. What do you say?"

I stared at him, but there was something capturing me—and despite the electric color of Damon's eyes, it was something more than that. I found myself lost to all will, and then I shrugged.

"Sure," I said slowly, my lips twitching into a smile. "Why not?"

"Okay, then." Damon shrugged again and made a step in another direction. "I'll see you around, Madeline."

"Yeah," I agreed as he stepped out into the darkness. "See you around—"

But when I looked around me, looking for Damon's presence, not even a floating head came into my view. He had vanished, completely invisible to my sight, and I sighed heavily, already done with the school event before it even began.

Nevertheless, I had no choice but to turn back and support my friends as they actually participated.

It was an hour later when Matt found Coach Tanner dead in the school parking lot, mauled viciously by an animal—the same animal that had been mauling people all around town lately. I couldn't help but feel responsible, even though I didn't have a reason to. If they didn't confirm the attack was form an animal, I would've thought it was Damon who killed him—but in light of the wounds on Tanner, it seemed a far stretch. I wanted to be sad about it, and I think on some level everyone felt…sorry for Tanner despite the hate we all harbored for him. Nevertheless, Elena and I dropped Stefan off and came home, exhausted, both of us turning in as soon as we walked through the door.

At first, my insomnia started to kick in, but after a while, I found myself unknowingly in heavy sleep.

* * *

"_Jenna! Madeline! I'm going out," Elena shouted as she bounced down the stairs with her jacket in her hand. The three of us turned to see Elena as she slipped the jacket on and looked over at us._

"_Have fun," Jenna said beside me, giving Elena a small smile. We had paused our movie for her—the movie pick of the night had been Legally Blonde. Elena looked at me and sighed. _

"_Are you absolutely positive that you don't want to come with me?" Elena asked, giving me a small smile. "I mean…there's free…refreshments," she said cryptically, but I just laughed and shook my head. _

"_No, Elena, I'm fine. Thanks, though. Call me later," I offered, and she nodded. Jenna and I turned around at the television screen and I picked at the blanket over my lap. My hair was pulled into a high ponytail and I was in a nice pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt that I threw on in the morning. Movie night wasn't about fashion. _

_Jenna looked at me, concerned. "Are you sure you don't want to go out with Elena? It might be good for you to try something new nowadays." _

_I shook my head. "I…I don't really like parties. They're not my scene," I admitted, clearing my throat. "Besides, I'd much rather be here with you, Aunt Jenna." I gave her a smile, but Jenna saw right through it and rolled her eyes. _

"_Uh huh. Yeah, and for that, _you _can be the one to get the chips from the pantry." I sighed heavily, but she shrugged. "Hey, come on! You dug your own grave with that one!" I let out an amusing whimper, but rolled off my position on the couch and walked into the kitchen to grab the bag of chips in the pantry. Jenna pressed the play button on the movie and I opened the bag of chips, eager to eat, but then I heard the doorbell. _

_Jenna didn't budge. "Well don't strain yourself, Jenna. I've got it," I mumbled and tossed the bag of chips on the counter before making my way out into the foyer to the door. Without hesitation, I sighed and opened it, only to see Damon on the outside. _

"_Damon," I greeted, my voice strained. "What a…nice surprise."_

"_Sorry," he apologized, but it wasn't all that meaningful. "Was I interrupting something?" _

"_Just…uh, movie night, but it's nothing," I shrugged carelessly and looked behind me to see that Jenna was fixated on the scene where Elle was teaching everyone in the beauty shop the bend and snap. "It's a chick flick, probably not something you're interested in."_

_Damon shrugged. "Well, I'm here, aren't I?" he suggested lightly, and I sighed. How embarrassing it was to have my sister's boyfriend show up in the middle of the night at my doorstep and indirectly ask to spend the nigh with me and my aunt. _

_Nevertheless, for a reason unknown to me, I shrugged, too. "Yeah, I guess you are. Come on in, we're only about halfway through the movie." _

"_Only," Damon taunted as he walked through the threshold, giving me a smile, and I shut the door behind him. _

* * *

Damon watched as the quit, undisturbed Madeline lay peacefully in her dark room, sleeping off the day's tiring events. Honestly, killing Coach Tanner wasn't his intention—he was going to compel the teacher to give her the grade she deserved, but once Stefan got under his skin, he decided on taking the more horrid route. Nonetheless, he was sure it would have the same results, and if not, he could always use compulsion.

There was something…strange about her; something different. Elena looked like Katherine, sure, but she wasn't, and he knew that. Her sister, however, was something interesting. Behind her brains and her exterior, he knew there was a wild girl in there somewhere. He just had to find it.

But he didn't like what he found when he poked through her dream, watching as she subconsciously created his image without any help from him. Damon scoffed, realizing what exactly he'd gotten himself into, and he bent down, his fingers trailing against the side of her porcelain cheek stained with blotches of red.

"Dreaming about me, Madeline?" Damon whispered to himself, chuckling. "You have no idea what you just got yourself into."

But she stirred, and this he realized was his cue to leave. Her eyes opened, and he fled the scene, realizing that this girl—whether he wanted it or not—was starting to get to him. Her witty remarks, her nervous rambling, it was all very…_human_.

And, as much as Damon Salvatore wanted it, he did not _do _human.

* * *

**So we got to see a scene from Shiver that Madeline relived in Season 5 :) And, of course, this scene at the end with Damon in Madeline's bedroom. A little creepy yet...still romantic, in some way. It's going to take a while for them to get where they need to be, though, but I promise it won't be as painful as you all might think. **

**Anyways, hope you all enjoyed that. I'll update as soon as I can! Review, please!  
**

_**Love, **_

_**BellaSalvatore1918**_

_**X**_


	4. Family Ties

**Hey, everyone. Sorry it took me so long to get this done. You know how boring these couple episodes are. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and hopefully this fulfills everyone's desires for Shiver until Season 6 comes back on. I hope you all loved that finale :) **

**Disclaimer: Refer to the Pilot. **

* * *

**Family Ties**

"Scum ball. Scum…_bucket_." I watched Jenna as she stared at the television set with devilish eyes, her orbs fixated on Logan Fell who was reporting the defeat of the animal that had been attacking everyone in Mystic Falls. I was too confused by her hate to say anything, but Elena came up behind Jenna and raised her eyebrows.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Him," Jenna and I said at the same time. Jenna looked over at me sitting in the chair beside her at our in-kitchen dining table and Elena looked at me with her eyebrows still raised.

"The news guy," I clarified, jerking my head to the side.

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell," Jenna added with a dull tone. "Did your mom ever tell you two why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

Elena and I both realized, and as I crinkled my nose and shuddered, Elena laughed. "Oh…_no _way. You and _him_?" She threw a glance at the television and shrugged at Logan's face on the screen. "He's _cute_."

"He is not _cute. _There is nothing _cute _about him," Jenna retorted, disgusted. She then angrily pointed her remote at the television and turned it off, causing Elena and I to throw glances at each other concerning our aunt's behavior. I sighed and looked up at Jenna with a shrug.

"Whatever, Aunt Jenna. I agree with you. I mean, _cute_? Please. Guy looks like he should be on the cover of GQ—" Jenna hit my arm, and I frowned. "Ouch."

Jenna shrugged and took sip of her coffee, but she looked over at Elena, who was polishing off the Gilbert watch, an old family heirloom Mrs. Lockwood had asked us to locate and loan to her for the Founder's Party the town was having tonight.

"What are you doing with that?" she asked.

"Mads and I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood that she would loan it to the Founder's Council for their heritage display," Elena answered, polishing the watch. Jenna leaned over me and picked up one of the other artifacts on the table.

"Is that Grandma Beth's _wedding _ring?"

"Originally, it was great, great Grandma Mary's wedding ring," I corrected her, taking the ring out of Jenna's hand. Suddenly, Jeremy appeared beside me and grabbed the pocket watch Elena was polishing straight from her hands.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" Jeremy asked crudely. Elena reached over me and snatched the watch out of Jeremy's hands.

"You're not gonna find out."

I looked up at Jeremy. "Seriously, Jer…eBay? You don't just sell priceless heirlooms on _eBay_."

"It's no better than giving it away! That stuff is Mom and Dad's," Jeremy accused us, walking away from the table to the fridge. I sighed.

"We're not _giving _it away, Jeremy. We're _loaning _it to Mrs. Lockwood for a night. Chill," I told him, rolling my eyes. Before Jeremy could retort, the doorbell rang, and without a moment of hesitation, Elena dropped the pocket watch in her hand and rushed up to it. I had a strong feeling that it was Stefan at the door, but I didn't say anything. Instead, I rose from my position at the table and joined Jenna and Jeremy in the kitchen.

"So…" Jenna started, earning my attention as I grabbed the milk carton from the fridge. "Big birthday tomorrow…" she hinted.

I sighed and nodded. "Yep. Eighteen. Legal enough to do pretty much anything…_except _drink alcohol. See, don't you find that just a _tad _strange?" I vented, shaking my head as I moved to the pantry and grabbed cereal to start my day. I gave a disappointed look as Jenna laughed against her coffee mug. "I swear. What is America's problem with alcohol? First prohibition and then the twenty-one age cap. Everywhere else in the world, it's eighteen or younger."

Jenna shrugged. "It's not like you'd drink anyway, Mads." I thought it over, but then I shrugged as well in agreement. But who knows? I could drink if I wanted to. "So what are we doing for the big day?"

Jeremy grabbed the cereal box out of my hand just as I finished pouring it into a bowl, but I didn't complain. I looked over at Jenna and scoffed. "Uh…the Founder's Party, remember? That's what we're doing."

Jenna set her coffee down. "I mean…we don't _have _to go. We could go out to dinner or something."

Jeremy snorted beside me. "Yeah. Let's go to Olive Garden for the _eighteenth _birthday in a row," he teased. I looked beside me and gave him a glare.

"Okay. Fine. For your birthday this year, we'll go to Chuck E. Cheese," I suggested lightly, causing Jeremy to roll his eyes and walk away with his breakfast. Jenna brought my attention back to her again with another question.

"Okay…seriously, though. We don't have to go to the party if you don't want to," Jenna offered, and I looked over at her and sighed in response.

"No, it's fine. It should be…fun. Well, as fun as a Founder's party could be," I amended, shoving a spoonful of cereal into my mouth. Jenna looked disappointed, as if she was hoping that I would want her to do something else for my birthday tomorrow. "What?" I asked, cautious.

Jenna looked up at me and shook her head, biting down on her lip. "Nothing."

I was silent for a while, but I ended up looking over at the blank television screen and then back to Jenna. Suddenly, it all made sense. "This doesn't have to do with that Logan guy being a Fell, does it?" But I answered my own question by just studying the look on Jenna's face. "Wow. So it does."

Jenna exhaled largely and straightened. "It's not too late to tell Elena we're going to Olive Garden…"

I gave Jenna a sour smile. "Nice try, Aunt Jenna, but I'm going to stick with my original plan and go to the Founder's Party." Jenna frowned and huffed, pulling her mug to her lips. I sighed and shoved another spoonful of cereal into my mouth. "Even if I am going _alone_."

"Alone?" Jeremy mocked me from the dining table as he grabbed the television remote and pointed it to its device. He turned his head slightly and peered back at me. "The infamous Madeline Gilbert going _alone_? What a shocker!"

"Well I don't see you with a date, Mr. Ladies Man," I taunted Jeremy straight back, narrowing my eyes. "Who are you even bringing to the party?"

"I'm not going." Jeremy shrugged.

Jenna intervened, putting her coffee mug in the dishwasher. "Jeremy, it's your sister's eighteenth birthday. The least you can do is spend it with her."

I shook my head as I watched Jeremy and his uninterested expression. "No, Jenna. I don't want to be around him either," I said proudly, earning a playful scoff from my brother. I looked over at Jenna and smiled. "Anyways, what do you say? We can go to the Founder's Party single _together_."

"I'm in," Jenna agreed. "But you have to _promise _to keep me away from Logan all night."

I shrugged. "Done deal," I agreed and made my way from the kitchen island to the dining table where Jeremy was sitting. To be honest, it didn't bother me that he didn't want to go to the Founder's Party. I didn't want to, either, but Elena had already told me of her plans to ask Stefan and…well, what kind of sister would I be if I took that away from her? Besides, it didn't sound all that bad. Boring, maybe, but not bad.

When Elena finally returned back to the kitchen, Jeremy and Jenna had both gone upstairs. I was in the kitchen, flicking through the channels, when she plopped down beside me.

"How was your secret in-house rendezvous with Stefan?" I asked Elena mockingly. Elena looked surprised, but then she laughed.

"Oh…I should've known you'd see. You see everything."

"True," I admitted cockily. Elena just smiled. "Did he ask you to go with him to the Founder's Party."

"No. I asked him. Apparently, the Salvatores don't get invited anymore," she confessed. Huh. I wonder why. "But that's a good thing. At least I won't have to see Damon."

I could sense an irritation in her tone that I didn't even know was there when it came to Damon. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well…" Elena trailed off, biting her lip. "Damon sort of…he tried to…" I waited for her to finally finish, and Elena sighed, exasperated. "He tried to kiss me. At the homecoming game."

I widened my eyes. "Wow." Elena nodded in agreement and I turned to her, confused. "_Wow. _But you didn't—?"

"No. No, of course not," Elena said quickly. "I slapped him, actually."

"Good for you," I praised. "He's probably just trying to recreate the past." Elena raised an eyebrow at me, prompting me to continue. "Okay…so I probably should've told you this, but Damon told me that he and Stefan both dated Katherine."

Elena opened her mouth, realizing. "And…_that's _why they have issues."

"Yeah, probably," I agreed. Elena sighed.

"Well, now it makes so much more sense," she admitted and leaned back on the couch. "Well, whatever. I'm not going to let Damon get to me. I'm not Katherine."

"No you are not," I agreed and pointed the remote at the screen to change the channel.

* * *

When the doorbell rang, Elena and I both realized that it was Tyler picking up the box of things for Carol. Elena was busy with Bonnie, trying to figure out which nail polish to choose, so I grabbed the box and rushed to the doorway, where Jeremy and Tyler were both standing.

"I'm here to pick up a box of stuff for my mom," Tyler explained to Jeremy.

"It's right here," I said to Tyler as I moved to the door, careful with the delicate box in my hand. Jeremy moved the door so he stepped to the side and I was greeted by the gracious presence of Tyler Lockwood.

Though I wasn't all that fond of him, we'd known each other our entire lives. So, he greeted me with a smile and nodded to me. "Happy birthday, Madeline."

"Thank you," I said—it was about the fourth time I'd said thank you to birthday wishes if you weren't counting the ones on the phone. I extended the box to him and said slowly, "Now _please _be careful. It took Elena and I forever to get this stuff ready."

"Yeah, be careful with it, _dick_," Jeremy snarled as Tyler nodded at me. I looked over at Jeremy and raised my eyebrows.

"What…what are you doing, Jeremy?" I whispered, confused. I knew that Jeremy and Tyler had some issues because of Vicki Donovan…okay, well, a _lot _of issues, especially the fight that Elena told me about after the homecoming game. Still, it was a little rude of Jeremy to just be so abrasive to a guest at our doorstep.

"I-I'm fine," Tyler interrupted me, earning my attention. "He's just being a punk."

"I got your _punk_," Jeremy snapped. Tyler just shook his head and rolled his eyes almost, causing me to sigh.

"Look, Tyler, just go. Tell your mom that Elena and I will see her tonight." Tyler nodded once, and I turned on my heel to go back into the kitchen, glad to be out of the swarm of testosterone at our doorstep. When I entered the kitchen, Elena called out to me as I grabbed a glass of water.

"Hey, Mads, we're trying to decide. 'Delicate Flower' or 'Naughty Vixen'? I think we should mix them…" Elena trailed off. I scoffed.

"Yeah, if you want to look like a teenybopper singing Hannah Montana all the way to the Founder's Party," I suggested. Elena shrugged, as if realizing I was right. "Go with 'Delicate Flower'."

Bonnie chuckled. "I _told _you she was going to say that." Elena laughed too as I just rolled my eyes, refusing to play along with everyone's childish games of trying to guess what predictable thing I'd do next.

"So 'Naughty Vixen' it is," Elena mocked, grabbing the nail polish from Bonnie and getting up to get a paper towel. I walked over to the dining table and grabbed the other bottle of nail polish.

"Wonderful! Now _I _get 'Delicate Flower'. Suckers," I muttered with a smile.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date," Bonnie mocked with a cooing tone. She turned to Elena. "You seem happy…ish."

"I am," Elena responded, "…ish. Tonight's gonna be a good night." She sat back down at the table with a square of the paper towel roll and narrowed her eyes at Bonnie. "But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as _soon _as you walked through the door."

"What if I tell you in the morning?" Bonnie suggested. "I don't want to ruin the night."

But, of course, my sister wouldn't take no for an answer. I watched as Elena pushed and pushed, saying, "Bonnie, out with it."

Bonnie was hesitant, but she was never one to keep a secret. "Okay," she gave in, sighing. "But it has to go in the vault because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed." Now, the Bennett looked back and forth between me and Elena, making sure that both of us promised to keep it locked up tight.

At the mention of Damon, my interest was sparked. Never before had there been so much drama in Mystic Falls before his appearance with his brother. I shrugged. "Vault it is. Spill."

Bonnie looked between me and Elena. "Apparently, Stefan has a very interesting back story."

"Uh huh," Elena urged.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend, Katherine?"

Elena's eyes glazed over me. "Well…Mads told me that Damon said they both dated her…which kind of explains all their issues."

"And she died in a fire," I added.

"Well, before they died," Bonnie said in an obvious tone. "They both did date her…only, she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally, it worked, and she turned against Damon."

Elena scoffed. "That sounds like one person's side of the story…meaning Damon's. And forgive me if I'm not into trusting his words right now."

"Bonnie," I interjected carefully. "Does that _really _sound like Stefan to you? Stefan's a lot of things but…manipulative and evil? Really? I mean, his _hair's _more honorable than that."

"I just wanted Elena to know," Bonnie defended herself, shrugging.

Elena sighed. "Anyway, Stefan's past relationship are none of my business."

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar," Bonnie murmured as she applied her first coat of nail polish. "_That _is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things!" Elena defended.

"Yeah? How do you know?" I watched as Elena opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I could see the look of realization on her face that she _didn't _know. I scoffed at my sister, incredulous.

"Wow, Elena. _Really_? Really?" I actually _liked _Damon, but I wasn't buying this story. It was ridiculous.

Bonnie shook her head. "Look, I didn't want to create any problems. It's your business," she told Elena, and from then on, the conversation was dropped.

Later on, Elena, Bonnie, and I were in Elena and Jeremy's bathroom, doing our hair and makeup when the house phone rang. Elena went to get it, and within a minute or so, Bonnie and I watched her storm into Jeremy's room.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked, amused at Elena's anger. I followed Elena into our brother's room and watched as she slapped his headphones off of his head.

"Ahh!" Jeremy shouted. "God! What now?"

"The pocket watch," Elena demanded. "Where is it?"

Jeremy struggled trying to get out of his tangled headphones while he replied, "W-What _watch_?"

"The one you stole from Mom's _box_. Look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, _freaking _out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it," Elena accused.

"Whoa," I said, trying to step in, but Jeremy retorted before I had a chance.

"Maybe she did. Maybe…uh, maybe Tyler took it."

"Don't even play that card! Jeremy, you took it!"

"Elena," I said, stepping forward. "Stop accusing—"

"If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your _pot_?" Elena accused harshly. I widened my eyes at her.

"Elena!" I shouted, just as Jeremy removed his legs from the desk with a bang.

"Screw you!" Jeremy shouted at our sister, standing up and brushing past the both of us. He walked over to his bookcase on the wall, and I caught Elena's gaze, giving her a harsh stare. Elena just shrugged at me, as if wondering what she did wrong. The next thing we knew, Jeremy walked over to us with the pocket watch in his hand. "I would never sell this, okay?"

"Then why did you take it?" Elena interrogated.

"Because it's supposed to be mine," Jeremy told her, his voice soft. "Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" Angrily, he put the watch in Elena's hand and brushed past her again to go back to his desk. I could see Elena's eyes, realizing that she had been really harsh and cruel.

"And he was going to give it to you," she finished.

"Yeah."

Elena began to move to the threshold as Jeremy sat down at his desk. I sighed. "Jeremy, it's still yours," I told him firmly. Elena sighed.

"Mom promised it to Mrs. Lockwood," she defended herself. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Just take it and get out," Jeremy snapped, his eyes flickering between both me and Elena. "Both of you."

After hesitations, Elena and I both respected Jeremy's wishes and closed the door leading into his bedroom. I sighed.

"First fight of my eighteenth year," I said as Elena went into the room and I returned to Bonnie, who was staring at me. "Wonderful."

* * *

Jenna and I had left earlier than Stefan and Elena, who were obviously going together. After the whole Jeremy debacle, I told Elena that she should give the watch back and I had good faith that she did. But even so, I always hated our sibling fights. It was too much. I didn't even mind that it was on my birthday; I just hated the fact that it happened in the first place. Jenna was in the same boat as me, hating the fights between Elena and Jeremy but unable to do anything about them. Jeremy was hard-headed. Elena was hard-headed. Not a good match.

Carol Lockwood greeted us at the door with a hefty smile. "Jenna! Madeline," she called out with a smile. "So lovely of you two to come. I'm so honored that you decided to spend your big day with us." Carol looked directly at me, and I gave her an even smile.

"Well, who would I be to miss a party like this one?" I challenged her, earning a light laugh from Carol—a trying-too-hard laugh. Eventually, her laughter died down and she looked at me and spoke softly.

"Um…I heard back from Elena, who said that she couldn't find the pocket watch. I feel absolutely terrible," Carol apologized.

I shrugged. "Well, it's bound to turn up somewhere. Don't worry about it."

Carol nodded slowly, as if she was waiting for something. An awkward silence hung until she smiled and said her last goodbye with a hearty, "Enjoy!" and walked away to the rest of her guests.

As Jenna and I stepped further into the house, she mumbled at me, "I bet you're wishing we went to Olive Garden now, huh?" I laughed and nodded, but it was too late to change our minds now. I'd already curled my hair, pinned it back, applied heavy-duty mascara, eye shadow, and lip-gloss, and I looked like a million bucks. That rarely ever happens. "I'll go get us something to drink."

I turned to her and gasped, holding up a finger. "Now, see, if I was twenty-one—"

"I'm getting you a soda, Madeline!" Jenna called to me as she began to walk away towards the open bar that also kept a supply of Coca-Cola for the minors. I frowned and turned back to the guests walking back and forth in the foyer of the Lockwood mansion, and I realized quickly how alone I was. It never really _bothered _me until I saw myself in the hallway mirror, an eighteen-year-old girl standing alone at a fancy party on her _birthday_.

I barely even noticed it when another figure joined me in the mirror and made me jump and turn around. Damon chuckled beside me as I tried to regain my strength. "Sorry," he murmured.

I swallowed. "It's okay," I said eventually, gulping back my fright. "I was just taken by surprise, that's all." I was silent for a moment, but then I raised my eyebrows. "What are you doing here? Elena told me that Stefan said the Salvatores don't get invited anymore."

Damon shrugged. "I came with Caroline."

_Caroline, _my mind sighed. Outside, I nodded and pursed my lips. "Right. Of course." I paused for a while, but then I continued. "You know, I'm starting to worry about you."

"Hmm? And why's that?"

"Well, the other night you were saying how you were going to teach Coach Tanner a lesson for me," I began. It was something that'd been on my mind ever since the homecoming game—how Damon promised to take care of Tanner for me and then Tanner just…died. "And there he was…hours later…_dead_."

Damon studied me for a while before scoffing. "Are you calling me a murderer?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out as I tried to find the right words to accuse him with. Eventually, I settled for vague words. "I'm…saying that it was very coincidental. If there hadn't been an animal caught this morning, I would probably be talking to the police right now."

The dark-haired man in front of me just bowed his head and chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself, Madeline. I wouldn't _kill _for you."

I scoffed. "What sane person would?" I retorted, shrugging. Damon did the same, his shoulders rising and falling swiftly.

"Touché," he responded. Before he could say anything else, we were interrupted by the host of the party, himself—Mayor Lockwood.

"Madeline!" Richard Lockwood exclaimed, coming up to me. I forced a smile as he gave me a drunken hug and pulled away. "Wow. Eighteen already! Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Mayor Lockwood. It means a lot." I swear, my tongue had fallen out with all the hasty acts of graciousness.

"It's your birthday?" Damon asked, intrigued, and I glanced over at him and nodded. Before Damon could say anything, his wife, who needed him for something that was apparently important enough to drag him away, took Mayor Lockwood. "So…what are you doing _here _on your birthday?"

The question was asked when Damon and I were alone again, and I shrugged. "I guess I just had nowhere better to be." From behind Damon, I spotted Jenna finally getting our drinks just as the sun went down over the horizon and the night came instantly. "Excuse me."

I left Damon in the middle of the Lockwood foyer and walked over to Jenna, grabbing my soda before she had the chance to pour it into her drink for a screwdriver. "Thank you," I said, elongating the words as I took the glass.

Jenna nodded and looked behind me, over towards Damon's general area. "Who was that you were talking to?"

I shook my head. "No one." Jenna gave me a glare, as if prompting me to continue. "Seriously. No one."

Jenna sighed. "Well, would it kill you to find _someone_?" We began to walk into the back part of the house to endure the rest of the guests at the party. Outside, the night was becoming more evident.

I chuckled at her. "Where did that come from?"

Jenna shrugged. "Well, I don't know…I mean, I appreciate you being my wing woman and everything, but you're an eighteen-year-old now. Don't you think it's time to…I don't know…start meeting some guys?"

A silence fell over us, and I eyed Jenna. "How many drinks did you have at that bar?" I asked her, confused. "You're literally _telling _me to go get a date."

"Well, I don't want you to turn out like me!"

I scoffed unintentionally. "No offense, Jenna, but _dating _is the way that I'd turn out to be like you."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I was just trying to help. And that guy you were talking to kind of reminded me of the advice I wanted to give to you today."

I eyed her for a while until I felt my eyes turn into slits. "That's your only present, isn't it?"

"Yeah…"

* * *

About halfway through the party, I had managed to lose Jenna and basically surround myself with adults that I'd only seen once every year, wishing me a happy birthday once the topic came up. Elena was off somewhere with Stefan, Caroline was nowhere to be seen, Bonnie was eating…_somewhere, _and I had seen Audrey floating around, but she disappeared, too. After realizing that I had unintentionally been able to isolate myself from everyone, I went searching for anyone that I knew. Jenna, primarily, but when I saw Caroline and Damon at the bar outside underneath the tent and by the dance floor, I felt eerily relieved.

"Hey," I said, greeting my blonde friend and her boyfriend. "Have you seen Jenna?" I asked the question to Caroline specifically because I was sure that Damon had never met Jenna before.

Caroline shook her head. "No…sorry."

I sighed and looked around, but luckily, I spotted a few familiar faces. Stefan and Elena were on the dance floor, dancing together to the easy sway of the music. I was only puled out of my search when Damon spoke to Caroline beside me.

"You know, Caroline, why don't you help Madeline out? See if you can find Jenna?" he suggested. I was about to protest when Caroline shrugged and straightened.

"Okay," she agreed heartily and skipped off in the other direction to find my aunt. I felt weird sending her out to do it alone, so I braced to go with her. Except, when I tried, Damon pulled me back with a conversation.

"You know, I never actually wished you a happy birthday earlier," he said, causing me to turn around at him and meet his icy gaze. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," I said, but shifted under his gaze. Damon held out a glass of champagne for me, prompting me to take it. I held up my hand. "Uh…no, thanks. I'm good."

"Come on," Damon pushed, shrugging lightly. "No one will see. Take a risk. You're eighteen now." I was about to protest when his eyes drew me in like a hypnotist. Suddenly, I found no reason to refuse.

"Okay," I said lightly and took the champagne out of Damon's hand. He watched me as I pulled it to my lips and took a sip. Champagne always tasted weird to me, but I endured it for some reason that was unknown to my mind. I could feel Damon's eyes watching me as I returned back to level height and held the champagne glass in my hand. My eyes slipped up to meet his, and he let out a huff of air, almost laughing. "Okay…you really need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Damon asked innocently.

I shook my head. "I don't know…_that_. You're messing with me," I accused, my eyes searching the floor. Damon straightened. "I _knew _Bonnie was so completely wrong—"

"Bonnie?" Damon repeated. _Oh, wow_, I thought to myself. _So much for the vault. _"What's she got to do with anything?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, trying to cover up my slip. "But…I don't _appreciate _you doing this. Getting me to drink champagne, messing with Bonnie and Caroline's minds…trying to go after Elena, I just…" I searched for the right terms and when I found them, I brought my eyes up to his. "I want you to stop."

Damon eyed me carefully and his lips parted, surprised. "You want me to…_stop_?"

"Yes," I said, nodding. "I want you to stop." I didn't need to say any more—I think I made myself clear enough. Damon just stared at me, a sense of amusement gleaming in his eyes. Or was it confusion? Shock, maybe? It was like he was enjoying it but was angry at the same time. I wasted no time in waiting for his response to my demand and just left the champagne glass with him, spinning around to resume finding Jenna. I swear, I could feel his eyes on me even as I left, but I ignored it.

I finally found Jenna a few minutes later, staring out the window in the parlor. I sighed once I spotted her. "_There _you are. I've been looking everywhere."

"So have I," Jenna hissed as she grabbed my arm and pulled me so that I was facing the window, too. "You were supposed to keep me away from Scum Fell!"

"You ran into Logan?" I asked, and Jenna nodded. I took a look around. "Where? I actually kind of want to meet—" I was cut off by my own means as I saw Logan appear from the crowd of guests and go to the bar to get another drink. Jenna saw where my eyes were looking and she turned around to spot Logan. Once she saw him, she turned back around again and tried to hide herself.

"What do I do?"

"Talk to him," I suggested, shrugging. Jenna widened her eyes.

"What? No!"

"Good luck…" I trailed off, releasing myself from Jenna's grasp and disappearing into the crowd. Jenna told me to start dating, but I was sure that she was the one that needed to. I was perfectly content being alone—romantically, of course. So, after I left Jenna, I went to find Elena…or Bonnie…or…_anyone, _really. Eventually, I spotted Caroline angrily storming out of the Lockwood's bathroom, Elena trailing behind her.

"Elena?" I asked once I saw her and her distressed face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Caroline," Elena admitted, frantic. "I…I don't know what's going on. It's Damon. She has these…_bite _marks on her. Actual _bite _marks."

"_Bite _marks?" I asked in disbelief. "A-Are you _sure_?"

"Yes!" Elena exclaimed as she angrily began to walk outside onto the porch—a woman on a mission. I followed her outside, trying to regain her attention, but Elena was too caught up in an episode of blind rage to listen to me. She stormed outside and found Damon standing innocently under the gazebo. The second she reached him, she shoved him hard.

"Elena," I tried again, but she wouldn't listen. I was getting tired of trying to control her rage.

"There is something _seriously _wrong with you!" Elena shouted at Damon. "You stay away from Caroline or I will go _straight _to her mother, the Sheriff. Got it? Stay _away _from her." She left abruptly, her words dripping with venom. Damon turned back at me as I sighed, really sick of Elena's same old routine of threatening people and yelling at people.

"What's going on?" Damon asked me, shaking his head. I crossed my arms and sighed.

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me? Elena said there were…_bite _marks on Caroline?" Damon stiffened, but out of his lips came a laugh.

"Oh, come _on. _Seriously? That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" I retorted, eyeing him carefully. Damon frowned. "Look, I'm not going to lie…you look like a man capable of a lot of things. So just do us both a favor and stay away from Caroline. Elena, too. And why don't you add me into that equation just for kicks? I've…got to go."

I rushed off as quickly as I could so that I didn't get sucked into another episode of the drama surrounding Damon. Seriously, the guy could literally create drama with a single word. It was sickening, to be honest. But…bite marks, champagne, and mind control all in one day?

It was border-lining on the worst eighteenth birthday anyone could possibly have. I should've taken Jeremy's offer to go to an Olive Garden.

* * *

When I returned home, Jeremy was upstairs and Jenna and Elena had both turned in for the night with one last birthday wish for me. In honor of my birthday, I grabbed a pint of ice cream from the freezer and sat down to watch a _Bones _marathon before turning in, myself. The last thing I expected, though, was for there to be a knock on the door at eleven-thirty in the evening.

I put my pint of ice cream down on the coffee table and went through our parlor-type area before finally answering the door. What surprised me even more than the fact that there was someone on the other side of the door was _who _it turned out to be.

"Happy birthday, Madeline!" Matt greeted me with a cupcake in his hand and a candle lit. I felt my mouth drop and my lips curl up into a smile as I laughed, surprised. "I figured you would be busy with all your birthday plans today so I decided to drop by late. Hope it's okay."

"It's…fine," I said, shaking my head at him. "Actually, I think this is the nicest thing anyone's done for me all day."

Matt nodded at me with a smile and extended the cupcake. "Well, make a wish."

I was genuinely and happily surprised that Matt turned up on my doorstep. Despite his relationship with Elena, we'd always remained close friends. Since his breakup with Elena, though, I was sure that we would drift apart. It was nice to know that he still cared about me—enough to go and get me a cupcake on my last half-hour of my birthday. I didn't dwell on the fact that he was the only one who cared enough to light a candle and get me a cake—even if it was in cup form—and I just appreciated the fact that I had someone to actually care.

So I grabbed the cupcake, brought it to line up with my lips, and blew.


End file.
